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spading

  • present participle
    of spade.
    spade
    noun
    a tool for digging, having an iron blade adapted for pressing into the ground with the foot and a long handle commonly with a grip or crosspiece at the top, and with the blade usually narrower and flatter than that of a shovel.

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.

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President John Quincy Adams broke ground on the 185-mile Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in 1828, spading the first shovel of dirt just across the District line.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 23, 2017

Part of the special delight of “Ghostland” is its many informed asides, revealing Dickey’s long hours of spading up obscure facts and quotes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2016

Kennedy's out-of-state legwork made many a Democrat indebted; Kennedy's backyard spading produced a record-breaking, 870,000-vote plurality for him and high-lift coattails for other Massachusetts Democrats.

From Time Magazine Archive

Forked up large clods in the back garden with a spading fork.

From Time Magazine Archive

I was spading up a place for a garden in front of The Dump, and I’m not lying, this was hard work, since no one had spaded up this ground since forever.

From "Okay for Now" by Gary D. Schmidt