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.

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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

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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

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

Man, if my chest hair wasn’t going visibly gray and I was instead a lanky, chiseled Zoomer with a hit LP I might feel the same way about top buttons.

From Los Angeles Times

On its side was chiseled its name: the Ever Onward.

From Literature

He is handsome, with sharp, chiseled features, and his skin is dark from the sun.

From Literature

JOHANNESBURG—For years, hundreds of illegal miners known locally as zama zamas prospected for gold on this patch of land on the outskirts of the city with hammers and chisels in hand-dug tunnels.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• blade
• knife