digging stick

noun

a pointed or spatulate wooden stick, sometimes having a stone weight or crossbar attached and used in primitive societies for loosening the ground to extract buried wild plant foods and for tilling the soil.

Nearby words

digger, digger indians, digger pine, digger wasp, diggers, digging stick, diggings, dight, digibox, digicam, digit

Origin of digging stick

First recorded in 1860–65

Examples from the Web for digging stick

Like them, he wore nothing but the malo; with them he plied the digging-stick at planting time.
The Fijians|Basil Thomson
The Papuans are the first to change the digging-stick into the hoe, a useful implement in tilling the soil.
Elements of Folk Psychology|Wilhelm Wundt
The first agricultural implement was probably the digging-stick, which was followed by the hoe.
The New Stone Age in Northern Europe|John M. Tyler
She took the basket and digging-stick home with her, put them up safely.
Creation Myths of Primitive America|Jeremiah Curtin

The husband thrust his digging-stick upward, and pushed and pushed until something gave way, and the Heaven went up with a run.
Savage Island|Basil C. Thomson