pickax
Americannoun
-
pickaxes
plural
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pickax
1275–1325; pick 2 + ax; replacing Middle English picois < Middle French, Old French; akin to French pic pick 2. See pique 1
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.
See Examples For:
“I’ve had to undergo the pickax every time I go to the hygienist, and get ticked off.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
As the 65-year-old was using a pickax to remove what he thought was a rectangular piece of concrete, the object moved.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Johnson's rumpled delivery extends the mileage of what becomes an extended joke that stops being funny after a point, which is Doug's knack for sniffing out goldmines but just missing the X with his pickax.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2023
Her DNA was found on a pickax on Daybell’s property, according to testimony from a forensic investigator.
From Seattle Times ● May 10, 2023
Jake swung the pickax to break up the gravel, which had cemented itself together with caked dust.
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
Near the central village of Baziafla, flanked by tall grass, the pit was excavated over several weeks with spades, pickaxes and crushers, before the miners were driven out of town by the local authorities.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
Rescuers used what tools they could scrounge — shovels, hoes, pickaxes, their bare hands.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
The diggers, armed with pickaxes, arrived almost overnight.
From Barron's ● Feb. 16, 2026
With pickaxes and wheelbarrows, dozens of Palestinian workers in hard hats and high-visibility vests are clearing rubble from the ruins of the Gaza Strip's oldest and largest mosque.
From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2025
The pickaxes beat out a rhythm that rang all over The Mountain.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
Then it happened — Harrington, wreathed in Druidic smoke, hoisted his guitar above his head and pickaxed his instrument into the guts of the 12-foot mirror, shattering it into oblivion.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 22, 2021
I asked him if it was true that he'd pickaxed his own furniture to get revellers out of his home.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 20, 2013
Day and night they chipped and hacked, pickaxed and burrowed deeper, uncovering whitened bones by the ton while the deranged clergyman rambled about, frothing like a lunatic.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
In the field the previous spring he had accompanied the expedition beyond the "Big Lead" to 84° 29', and with the strength of his broad shoulders he had pickaxed the way.
From A Negro Explorer at the North Pole by Booker T. Washington
After the single shot of the big rifle was fired, he had only a knife and a hatchet and the spiked and pickaxed ice-staff, and Brave.
From The Keeper by H. Beam Piper
The Esquire Network is not exactly pickaxing into virgin ground as it debuts a travel show, a cooking show, a style show, and a show about real estate.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2013
No, they were all at work," said the other, "but they were pickaxing the rock in a listless sort of way that I recognized at once.
From The Boy With the U. S. Life-Savers by Francis Rolt-Wheeler
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
