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
There are no factories shut down through lack of labor, no projected railroads unbuilt for want of pick-and-shovel men.
From War of the Classes by Jack London
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.
