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Webster 1913 Edition

Shovel

Shov′el

,
Noun.
[OE.
shovele
,
schovele
, AS.
scoft
,
sceoft
; akin to D.
schoffel
, G.
schaufel
, OHG.
sc[GREEK]vala
, Dan.
skovl
, Sw.
skofvel
,
skyffel
, and to E.
shove
. √160. See
Shove
,
Verb.
T.
]
An implement consisting of a broad scoop, or more or less hollow blade, with a handle, used for lifting and throwing earth, coal, grain, or other loose substances.
Shovel hat
,
a broad-brimmed hat, turned up at the sides, and projecting in front like a shovel, – worn by some clergy of the English Church.
[Colloq.]
–
Shovelspur
(Zool.)
,
a flat, horny process on the tarsus of some toads, – used in burrowing.
–
Steam shovel
,
a machine with a scoop or scoops, operated by a steam engine, for excavating earth, as in making railway cuttings.

Shov′el

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Shoveled
or
Shovelled
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Shoveling
or
Shovelling
.]
1.
To take up and throw with a shovel;
as, to
shovel
earth into a heap, or into a cart, or out of a pit
.
2.
To gather up as with a shovel.

Webster 1828 Edition

Shovel

SHOVEL

,
Noun.
shov'l. An instrument consisting of a broad scoop or hollow blade with a handle; used por throwing earth or other loole substances.

SHOVEL

,
Verb.
T.
1. To take up and throw with a shovel; as, to shovel earth into a heap or into a cart, or out of a pit.
2. To gather in great quantities.

Definition 2025

shovel

shovel

English

A pair of shovels

Noun

shovel ‎(plural shovels)

  1. A hand tool with a handle, used for moving portions of material such as earth, snow, and grain from one place to another, with some forms also used for digging. Not to be confused with a spade, which is designed solely for small-scale digging and incidental tasks such as chopping of small roots.
  2. (US) A spade.

Derived terms

Translations

External links

Verb

shovel ‎(third-person singular simple present shovels, present participle shoveling or shovelling, simple past and past participle shoveled or shovelled)

  1. To move materials with a shovel.
    The workers were shovelling gravel and tarmac into the pothole in the road.
    After the blizzard, we shoveled the driveway for the next two days.
    I don't mind shoveling, but using a pickaxe hurts my back terribly.
  2. (transitive, figuratively) To move with a shoveling motion.
    • 2011 December 29, Keith Jackson, “SPL: Celtic 1 Rangers 0”, in Daily Record:
      The keeper then seemed to claw it out with fabulous reflexes only for TV replays to show the ball had most probably crossed the line before Forster had shovelled it away.

Translations

Related terms

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Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English shovele, schovel, showell, shoule, shole (> English dialectal shoul, shool), from Old English scofl ‎(“shovel”), from Proto-Germanic *skuflō, *skūflō ‎(“shovel”), equivalent to shove +‎ -el ‎(instrumental/agent suffix). Cognate with Scots shuffle, shule, shuil ‎(“shovel”), Saterland Frisian Sköifel ‎(“shovel”), West Frisian skoffel, schoffel ‎(“hoe, spade, shovel”), Dutch schoffel ‎(“spade, hoe”), Low German Schüfel, Schuffel ‎(“shovel”), German Schaufel ‎(“shovel”), Danish skovl ‎(“shovel”), Swedish skyffel, skovel ‎(“shovel”), Icelandic skófla ‎(“shovel”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈʃʌvəl/
  • Rhymes: -ʌvəl

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