noun
mattock
MAT-uk/ˈmætək/
A heavy digging tool with a broad blade and an opposing pick or cutting blade.
The mattock has a broad digging blade opposite a pointed pick.
Etymology
Middle English mattok already named the soil-loosening digging tool, so the selected meaning continues an old use. Its deeper ancestry is uncertain; the proposed connection with a Latin word for a club is not established.
In context
soiled mattock or shovel in hand
More examples
- The mattock's cutting blade slices through the thick root.
- He loosens the packed clay with a mattock before shoveling.
- The trail crew carries mattocks to dig through rocky ground.
Forms
mattock · mattocks
Similar words
- pickax
- Usually has narrower ends for breaking rock or hard soil.
- hoe
- Has a lighter blade for shallow digging and removing weeds.