What does shovel mean?

Definitions for shovel
ˈʃʌv əlshov·el

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word shovel.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. shovelnoun

    a hand tool for lifting loose material; consists of a curved container or scoop and a handle

  2. shovel, shovelful, spadefulnoun

    the quantity a shovel can hold

  3. shovelnoun

    a fire iron consisting of a small shovel used to scoop coals or ashes in a fireplace

  4. power shovel, excavator, digger, shovelverb

    a machine for excavating

  5. shovelverb

    dig with or as if with a shovel

    "shovel sand"; "he shovelled in the backyard all afternoon long"

Wiktionary

  1. shovelnoun

    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. shovelnoun

    A spade.

  3. shovelverb

    To move materials with a shovel.

  4. shovelverb

    To move with a shoveling motion.

  5. Etymology: From scofl.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. SHOVELnoun

    An instrument consisting of a long handle and broad blade with raised edges.

    Etymology: scofl , Saxon; schoeffel, Dutch.

    A handbarrow, wheelbarrow, shovel and spade. Thomas Tusser.

    The brag of the Ottoman, that he would throw Malta into the sea, might be performed at an easier rate than by the shovels of his Janizaries. Joseph Glanvill, Sceps.

  2. To Shovelverb

    Etymology: from the noun.

    I thought
    To die upon the bed my father dy’d,
    To lie close by his honest bones; but now
    Some hangman must put on my shrowd, and lay me
    Where no priest shovels in dust. William Shakespeare, Winter’s Tale.

    Ducks shovel them up as they swim along the waters; but divers insects also devour them. William Derham.

Wikipedia

  1. Shovel

    A shovel is a tool used for digging, lifting, and moving bulk materials, such as soil, coal, gravel, snow, sand, or ore.Most shovels are hand tools consisting of a broad blade fixed to a medium-length handle. Shovel blades are usually made of sheet steel or hard plastics and are very strong. Shovel handles are usually made of wood (especially specific varieties such as ash or maple) or glass-reinforced plastic (fiberglass). Hand shovel blades made of sheet steel usually have a folded seam or hem at the back to make a socket for the handle. This fold also commonly provides extra rigidity to the blade. The handles are usually riveted in place. A T-piece is commonly fitted to the end of the handle to aid grip and control where the shovel is designed for moving soil and heavy materials. These designs can all be easily mass-produced. The term shovel also applies to larger excavating machines called power shovels, which serve the same purpose—digging, lifting, and moving material. Although such modern power shovels as front-end loaders and excavators (including tractors that feature a loading bucket on one end and a backhoe for digging and placing material on the other) descend from steam shovels and perform similar work they are not classified as shovels.Hand shovels have been adapted for many different tasks and environments. They can be optimized for a single task or designed as cross-over or compromise multitaskers. They are very useful in agriculture.

ChatGPT

  1. shovel

    A shovel is a tool primarily used for digging, lifting, or moving materials such as soil, gravel, snow, sand, or coal from one place to another. It typically consists of a broad blade or scoop attached to a medium- to long-length handle. Shovels come in different shapes and sizes, depending on their specific use.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Shovelverb

    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

  2. Shovelverb

    to take up and throw with a shovel; as, to shovel earth into a heap, or into a cart, or out of a pit

  3. Shovelverb

    to gather up as with a shovel

  4. Etymology: [OE. shovele, schovele, AS. scoft, sceoft; akin to D. schoffel, G. schaufel, OHG. scvala, Dan. skovl, Sw. skofvel, skyffel, and to E. shove. 160. See Shove, v. t.]

Wikidata

  1. Shovel

    A shovel is a tool for digging, lifting, and moving bulk materials, such as soil, coal, gravel, snow, sand, or ore. Shovels are extremely common tools that are used extensively in agriculture, construction, and gardening. Most shovels are hand tools consisting of a broad blade fixed to a medium-length handle. Shovel blades are usually made of sheet steel or hard plastics and are very strong. Shovel handles are usually made of wood or glass-reinforced plastic. Hand shovel blades made of sheet steel usually have a folded seam or hem at the back to make a socket for the handle. This fold also commonly provides extra rigidity to the blade. The handles are usually riveted in place. A T-piece is commonly fitted to the end of the handle to aid grip and control where the shovel is designed for moving soil and heavy materials. These designs can all be easily mass-produced. The term shovel is also applied to larger excavating machines called power shovels, which are designed for the same purpose, namely, digging, lifting, and moving material. Modern power shovels are the descendants of steam shovels. Loaders and excavators perform very similar work, etically speaking, but they are not classified as shovels emically.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Shovel

    shuv′l, n. an instrument consisting of a broad blade or scoop with a handle, used for lifting loose substances.—v.t. to lift up and throw with a shovel: to gather in large quantities.—v.i. to use a shovel:—pr.p. shov′elling; pa.t. and pa.p. shov′elled.ns. Shov′el-board, Shove′-groat, Shuff′le-board, a game in which a piece of money or metal is driven with the hand toward a mark on a board: the board used in the game; Shov′elful, as much as a shovel will hold:—pl. Shov′elfuls; Shov′el-hat, a hat with a broad brim, turned up at the sides, and projecting in front—affected by Anglican clergy; Shov′el-head, the bonnet-headed shark: the shovel-headed sturgeon; Shov′eller, one who shovels: a genus of ducks, with mandibles very broad at the end; Shov′el-nose, a sturgeon with broad, depressed, shovel-shaped snout. [A.S. scofl, from scúfan, to shove; Ger. schaufel.]

Dictionary of Nautical Terms

  1. shovel

    A copper implement for removing a cartridge from a gun without injuring it. Formerly used, and as late as 1816 by the Turks, to convey the powder into the chamber without using cartridges: also used to withdraw shot where windage was large. (See LADLE.)

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of shovel in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of shovel in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of shovel in a Sentence

  1. Steve McCurry:

    Some of the firemen were really upset, one wanted to come after us with a shovel.

  2. Brandon Rola:

    Officers were running around flagging down trucks, trying to see if anyone in the area had a shovel, we were using (EMTs') back braces to try to remove snow. People were clawing at it. Eventually, between good Samaritans, truck drivers coming by with shovels in their beds, we were able to get a decent amount of shovels.

  3. Author Unknown:

    Religion is a man using a divining rod. Philosophy is a man using a pick and shovel.

  4. Patrick Reilly:

    The language in that letter is damning and that letter has a reference to bringing a shovel and burying a body.

  5. Nikita Khrushchev, Speech in Yugoslavia, Aug. 24, 1963:

    I once said, "We will bury you," and I got into trouble with it. Of course we will not bury you with a shovel. Your own working class will bury you.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

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Translations for shovel

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"shovel." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/shovel>.

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