steam shovel
noun
a machine for digging or excavating, operated by its own engine and boiler.
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steam shovel
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steam-shovel
steam-shovelnouna steam-driven mechanical excavator, esp one having a large bucket or grab on a beam slung from a revolving jib
steam shovel
Americannoun
steam-shovel
British
noun
Etymology
Origin of steam shovel
An Americanism dating back to 1875–80
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.
See Examples For:
“Maybe a steam shovel mated with a cocoa bean?”
From New York Times ● Jun. 15, 2021
Maybe a steam shovel mated with a cocoa bean?’
From Washington Times ● Jun. 15, 2021
“Washington overpowered my father like a steam shovel, tossing him into a heap like discarded dirt,” she wrote.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 22, 2018
Or: “Elizabeth always wanted to read fables to her little girl but the child only wanted to hear the story about the little bird who thought a steam shovel was its mother.”
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 15, 2016
He smiled inwardly: Hey, Grayson, look — Mike Mulligan’s steam shovel had a baby!
From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
Dear Carolyn: A dear friend is a steam-shovel mom.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 10, 2022
In the seven mad days before, Chicagoans saw mud slung in steam-shovel fashion, the so-called "better element" cheered 10,000 women marching for "Dever and decency."
From Time Magazine Archive
It means considerable hardship for contractors who are not experienced at handling small jobs, and for steam-shovel operators, steelworkers and other workmen who cannot readily convert to housebuilding.
From Time Magazine Archive
He was William Devro, a steam-shovel operator from Providence.
From Time Magazine Archive
A long, level stretch of soft gray earth, set with bunches of grass here and there, began a mile beyond the station, unmarred by steam-shovel or grader's scraper.
From The Duke Of Chimney Butte by P. V. E. (Percy Van Eman) Ivory
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.
