shoveler

American  

[shuhv-uh-ler, shuhv-ler] / ˈʃʌv ə lər, ˈʃʌv lər /

especially British, shoveller

noun

1. a person or thing that shovels.

2. Ornithology.

   1. a freshwater duck of the Northern Hemisphere, Anas clypeata, having a broad, flat bill.

   2. any of several related, similar ducks.

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shoveler British  

/ ˈʃʌvələ /

noun

1. a duck, Anas (or Spatula ) clypeata, of ponds and marshes, having a spoon-shaped bill, a blue patch on each wing, and in the male a green head, white breast, and reddish-brown body

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Etymology

Origin of shoveler

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; shovel, -er ¹

Example Sentences

It all had us wondering: What’s it like to be a temporary snow shoveler, on behalf of the municipal government, in a city as dense and weather-vulnerable as New York?

From Slate • Feb. 24, 2026

Look for the northern shoveler, the ring-necked duck and the gadwall.

From New York Times • Jun. 6, 2023

Steve Buscemi, who played God in Season 1, is now the proud shoveler of the town’s excrement, reciting the shoveler’s pledge: “Anytime, anywhere, even if it’s big.”

From New York Times • Jan. 2, 2020

Years ago, when Tucker was the young, silent one in the room while also working as the after-school chauffeur and driveway shoveler, he learned what it took to be a head coach.

From Washington Post

Ruddy sheldrakes, mallards, shoveler ducks, and teal were in even the smallest ponds and avocets with sky-blue legs and slender recurved bills ran along the shores of a lake at which we stopped for tiffin.

From Across Mongolian Plains A Naturalist's Account of China's 'Great Northwest' by Andrews, Roy Chapman