pickax

or pick·axe

[pik-aks]

noun, plural pick·ax·es.

a pick, especially a mattock.

verb (used with object), pick·axed, pick·ax·ing.

to cut or clear away with a pickax.

verb (used without object), pick·axed, pick·ax·ing.

to use a pickax.

Origin of pickax

1275–1325; pick² + ax; replacing Middle English picois < Middle French, Old French; akin to French pic pick². See pique¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for pickax

Historical Examples of pickax

After that somebody took a pickax and cracked in my jaw with it.
Behind the Beyond
Stephen Leacock
Jack and Alfonso were supplied with a pickax, a shovel and a basket.
The Slave of the Mine
Bracebridge Hemyng
They do not care to go back to the track, the pickax and the shovel.
The Immigrant Tide, Its Ebb and Flow
Edward A. Steiner
He was taking a glass of ale at the 'Toad and Pickax,' and you might hear him all over the yard.
It Is Never Too Late to Mend
Charles Reade
Just as the sun was setting, a man came into the gully with a pickax on his shoulder.
It Is Never Too Late to Mend
Charles Reade