chisel

American  

[chiz-uhl] / ˈtʃɪz əl /

noun

1. a wedgelike tool with a cutting edge at the end of the blade, often made of steel, used for cutting or shaping wood, stone, etc.

2. chisel plow.

3. Astronomy. Chisel, the constellation Caelum.

---

verb (used with object)

chiseled, chiseling, chiselled, chiselling

1. to cut, shape, or fashion by or as if by carving with a chisel.

2. to cheat or swindle (someone).

   He chiseled me out of fifty dollars.

3. to get (something) by cheating or trickery.

   He chiseled fifty dollars out of me.

verb (used without object)

chiseled, chiseling, chiselled, chiselling

1. to work with a chisel.

2. to trick; cheat.

chisel British  

/ ˈtʃɪzəl /

noun

1. 1. a hand tool for working wood, consisting of a flat steel blade with a cutting edge attached to a handle of wood, plastic, etc. It is either struck with a mallet or used by hand

   2. a similar tool without a handle for working stone or metal

---

verb

1. to carve (wood, stone, metal, etc) or form (an engraving, statue, etc) with or as with a chisel

2. slang to cheat or obtain by cheating

Other Word Forms

• chisel-like adjective
• chisellike adjective

Etymology

Origin of chisel

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Anglo-French, variant of Old French cisel, from unattested Vulgar Latin cīsellus, diminutive of unattested cīsus, for Latin caesus, past participle of caedere “to cut,” with -ī- generalized from prefixed derivatives; excide

Example Sentences

His lips looked chiseled from ice; his flesh was waxen yellow.

From Literature

‘There’s no such thing as “safe” any more,’ she said, her words chiselled into arrows by her anger.

From Literature

Glancing up, I saw that the domed ceiling was chiseled right out of the rock of the mountain.

From Literature

"We used big chisels on the end of broom handles. A bit like gardening hoes. You use those to stab at it and shave stuff way," explained Roche.

From BBC

KYIV, Ukraine—It was late January, and an elite Ukrainian team grabbed their tools for a special operation critical to their country’s resistance against Russia: an underwater drone, a hammer and a chisel.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• blade
• knife