pickax
/ˈpɪkˌæks/
noun
- A tool with a curved iron bar pointed at one or both ends, attached to a wooden handle, used for breaking up hard ground or rock.
- Archaeologists carefully dug with a pickax to uncover the ancient ruins.
- The miner swung his pickax against the rock wall.
- She used a pickax to break up the frozen soil in the garden.
Synonyms
verb
- To break or dig with a pickax.
- They had to pickax the hard ground before planting the fence posts.
- He pickaxed the rocky hillside looking for fossils.
- The workers pickaxed the old pavement to make way for new pipes.