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; see origin at shovel, -er ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shoveler

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

Here is a chance to do something meaningful in his job, to become more than just a careerist shoveler who buries treasure and excrement for pirates.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 18, 2021

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

The shoveler, or spoonbill, as they are commonly called, is also an early duck upon our ponds; they, too, breed throughout the mountains of our hunting grounds.

From Game Birds and Game Fishes of the Pacific Coast by Payne, Harry Thom