noun
tiller
A person or implement that cultivates soil.
She uses a tiller to loosen the soil before planting.
Etymology
The cultivation verb takes the agent ending. Tiller names either the worker preparing the soil or the implement performing that task.
More examples
- The electric tiller fits between the garden rows.
- We rent tillers each spring to prepare our vegetable beds.
- For generations, her family has lived as tillers of the soil.
Forms
tiller · tillers
till verb — To prepare soil for growing crops.
tillage noun — The work of preparing soil for crops.
Similar words
- cultivator
- Often names equipment for loosening soil and removing weeds.
- plow
- Turns soil in furrows rather than finely breaking it up.
- farmer
- May raise livestock as well as grow crops and work soil.