hoe
1 Americannoun
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a long-handled implement having a thin, flat blade usually set transversely, used to break up the surface of the ground, destroy weeds, etc.
-
any of various implements of similar form, as for mixing plaster or mortar.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
-
Richard, 1812–86, U.S. inventor and manufacturer of printing-press equipment.
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his father Robert, 1784–1833, U.S. manufacturer of printing presses.
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
- hoelike adjective
- hoer noun
- unhoed adjective
Etymology
Origin of hoe
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English howe, from Old French houe, from Germanic; compare Middle Dutch houwe, Old High German houwa “mattock”; akin to hew
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I was next to Togbe on the bench, sharpening the blade of a hoe while he worked on the loose handle of a cutlass.
From Literature
“I wouldn’t recommend that path — trying to become a world-class conductor in your late 30s is a really painful row to hoe,” he says.
From Los Angeles Times
It can turn a century-old maker of back hoes and mining trucks into a hot tech stock.
From Barron's
Zach finishes smashing a cliff of dirt down with a hoe.
From Literature
"But it's temporary," she sighed, standing barefoot in her freshly hoed soil.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
