shovel

Noun

1. 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. In strict usage differentiated from a spade, which is designed solely for small-scale digging and incidental tasks such as chopping of small roots.
2. A mechanical part of an excavator with a similar function.
3. (US, broadly, especially) Any shovel in the above senses, or any spade.
4. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis) Ellipsis of shovel hat.

Verb

1. To move materials with a shovel.
2. (figuratively, transitive) To move with a shoveling motion.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈʃʌvl̩/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: shovele

Inherited from Old English: scofl

Cognate with Scots: shuffle

Cognate with Saterland Frisian: Sköifel

Cognate with Western Frisian: skoffel

Cognate with Dutch: schoffel

Cognate with Low German: Schüfel

Cognate with German: Schaufel

Cognate with Danish: skovl

Cognate with Swedish: skyffel

Cognate with Icelandic: skófla

In summary

From Middle English shovele, schovel, showell, shoule, shole (> English dialectal shoul, shool), from Old English scofl (“shovel”), from Proto-Germanic *skuflō, *skūflō (“shovel”), equivalent to shove + -el (instrumental/agent suffix).
Cognate with Scots shuffle, shule, shuil (“shovel”), Saterland Frisian Sköifel (“shovel”), West Frisian skoffel, schoffel (“hoe, spade, shovel”), Dutch schoffel (“spade, hoe”), Low German Schüfel, Schuffel (“shovel”), German Schaufel (“shovel”), Danish skovl (“shovel”), Swedish skyffel, skovel (“shovel”), Icelandic skófla (“shovel”).

Synonyms

spade

scoop

power shovel

hoe

trowel

digger

ladle

scoop up

shovelful

excavator

spadeful

plowshare

mattock

sock

put on

rake

ridge

sack

shuffle

spoon

🥄

digging tool

French kiss

serve food

shovel hat

steam navvy

scoop shovel

dredger shovel

single-bucket excavator

backing-off

drag shovel

shovel dredger

onebucket excavator

monobucket excavator

one-bucket excavator

ammunition

single bucket excavator

backhoe

banjo

🪕

bore

bring together

burrow

dig

dish out

excavate

gather up

paddle

pickaxe

pitch

poker

Translations

pelle

Schaufel

pala

pala

pá

schop

φτυάρι

badile

paletta

scheppen

schaufeln

spalare

łopata

pelleter

schep

Sentences

Now he was here not with his flock , but with a shovel .