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View synonyms for trowel

trowel

[ trou-uhl ]

noun

  1. any of various tools having a flat blade with a handle, used for depositing and working mortar, plaster, etc.
  2. a similar tool with a curved, scooplike blade, used in gardening for taking up plants, turning up earth, etc.


verb (used with object)

, trow·eled, trow·el·ing or (especially British) trow·elled, trow·el·ling.
  1. to apply, shape, smooth, or dig with or as if with a trowel.

trowel

/ ˈtraʊəl /

noun

  1. any of various small hand tools having a flat metal blade attached to a handle, used for scooping or spreading plaster or similar materials
  2. a similar tool with a curved blade used by gardeners for lifting plants, etc
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


verb

  1. tr to use a trowel on (plaster, soil, etc)
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈtroweller, noun
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Other Words From

  • trowel·er especially British, trowel·ler noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of trowel1

1300–50; Middle English < Old French truelle < Late Latin truella, equivalent to Latin tru ( a ) ladle + -ella -elle
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Word History and Origins

Origin of trowel1

C14: from Old French truele , from Latin trulla a scoop, from trua a stirring spoon
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Idioms and Phrases

see under lay it on thick .
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Example Sentences

By January 1836, the American Monthly Magazine reported, “the click of trowels is already heard among the half-cooled bricks, and the dust of mortar is even now mingling with the smoke from the still shouldering ruins.”

From Time

Jarvis, as well as two people who work at the company you hired to install the planks in your second bedroom, all looked at the picture and said they are fairly certain the culprit is trowel marks under the planks.

Having a sturdy trowel can be a huge help with that last one.

You want to find a trowel that is lightweight, portable, and can handle any terrain without damage.

A heavy trowel is used to retrieve a mass of your chosen kind of ice cream from its tub and put it in the cardboard container.

I got a trowel, and we planted the withered trilliums in partial shade between the maples and the pines, and gave them water.

He found the trowel under the fence, as Gardener Jim had prophesied, and he worked all day, with a brief nooning at home.

Sophy disappeared into the house, and came out again, hurriedly, with a trowel in her hand.

Trowel and spade and tomahawk went furiously to work, and soon cleared away the gravel from a surface of three or four feet.

The cement can be forced into place with the hands and then surfaced with a trowel.

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Related Words

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.

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