SHOVEL • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Shovel

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/ʃˈəvəl/ Listen

noun

Shovel n. 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.

verb

Shovel v. t. (past & past part. shoveled or shovelled; pres. part. shoveling or shovelling)

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

To gather up as with a shovel.

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Etymology of 'Shovel'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Shovel" Quotes from Famous Books

... you stop that!" roared Shout. And then, when they continued to snowball him, he came after them with a wooden snow-shovel. ...

— The Rover Boys on a Hunt - or The Mysterious House in the Woods • Arthur M. Winfield (Edward Stratemeyer)

... we're out! Not even the fun of having to be helped across like the others were! Well, never mind, Mr. Catt's machine is sure to stick again. It has every time so far. There, didn't I tell you? Hurrah! Watch your father puff, Kitty. Ain't he a sight? Get out your shovel, Mr. Catt!" ...

— Tabitha's Vacation • Ruth Alberta Brown

... mean the clearing away of obstacles—well, somebody has to do it, hasn't he?" asked Gideon Vetch. "If you want a clean street to walk on, you must hire somebody to shovel away the slush. It is true that we put Gershom to shovelling slush—and you complain of his methods! Well, I admit that he may have been a trifle too zealous about it; he may have spattered things a bit more than was necessary, ...

— One Man in His Time • Ellen Glasgow

... flames, tongueing their way up the chimney in fantastic shapes, became bold warriors in mortal combat with emigrants on their way to the golden West, and even after she had gone to bed it seemed to her that "everything in the room, from the high old-fashioned bedposts down to the shovel and tongs, was transformed into the dusky tribe in paint and feathers, all ready for a war-dance" as they loomed large out of shadowy corners. She would hide her head under the clothes, scarcely daring to wink or breathe, then come boldly to the surface, face ...

— Ten American Girls From History • Kate Dickinson Sweetser

... post-office, and the human race run on his errands; to the book-shop, and the human race read and write of all that happens, for him; to the court-house, and nations repair his wrongs. He sets his house upon the road, and the human race go forth every morning, and shovel out the snow, and cut ...

— Nature • Ralph Waldo Emerson

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