- a variation of pickax.
pickaxe
Britishnoun
verb
Etymology
Origin of pickaxe
C15: from earlier pikois (but influenced also by axe ), from Old French picois, from pic pick ²; compare also 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.
"One of them answers and says he's wounded in the stomach," he said, recounting how their father and another brother were using a pickaxe and a sledgehammer to try to break them free.
From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026
Mr Fooks was digging with a pickaxe by torchlight when he found the coins in a pottery bowl buried in a bare earth floor.
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2024
“I’m still hitting the wrong buttons here, I’m not used to the controls,” Shapiro said as he limply gestured his pickaxe toward a stone laden with glowing rubies.
From Slate ● Mar. 24, 2023
To answer that, Povich's colleague Gordon Elliott ran to a local firehouse, procured a pickaxe and took a few theatrical digs at the great concrete symbol of communism.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2022
I spent a week with a pickaxe and shovel digging postholes.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
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.
