pick-and-shovel
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of pick-and-shovel
First recorded in 1890–95
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.
Power-generation technology provider GE Vernova remains the best pick-and-shovel stock to play the AI boom.
From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026
In the decades to come, the company, now called Tripp Lite, became a pick-and-shovel business of the digital gold rush.
From Salon • Aug. 24, 2022
When he was 12, Mr. Poitier quit school and became a water boy for a crew of pick-and-shovel laborers.
From New York Times • Jan. 7, 2022
After World War II, the state had 125,000 pick-and-shovel diggers, but machines cut the workforce to around 15,000 today - wiping out the livelihood of 110,000 families.
From Washington Times • Dec. 19, 2018
Illiteracy is a pick-and-shovel estate, a life sentence to meniality.
From Conservation Through Engineering Extract from the Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior by Lane, Franklin K.
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.
