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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for pickaxe
Contemporary Examples of pickaxe
An artist in New Mexico has spent decades chiseling out fantastical caves from the mountains, one pickaxe swing at a time.
Historical Examples of pickaxe
“Many long years I have been waiting for you, my son,” answered the pickaxe.
Then he struck the giant such a blow on the head with a pickaxe that he killed him.
Favorite Fairy TalesLogan Marshall
He has a toy shovel and a pickaxe and a little axe that will cut.
Ned picked up the pickaxe and placing it in his knapsack, again went on.
The Magic Soap BubbleDavid Cory
There was a pickaxe—perhaps the very one she had seen there in the winter—and a shovel.
Ruth Fielding At CollegeAlice B. Emerson
pickaxe
US pickax
noun
verb
Word Origin for pickaxe
C15: from earlier pikois (but influenced also by axe), from Old French picois, from pic pick ²; compare also pique 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper