chisel
n.n. a tool with a sharp, flat edge used for cutting or carving stone, wood, or metal. You use it to shape materials by striking it with a hammer.
n. a tool with a sharp, narrow blade used for cutting, carving, or shaping hard materials such as stone, wood, or metal. Often used in the context of sculpture or construction.
The sculptor used a small chisel to carve the details.
He used a chisel and a hammer to remove the old paint from the stone wall.
The artisan demonstrated how to hold the chisel correctly to ensure the blade remained sharp and the cuts were clean and precise.
From Middle English chisel, chesel, from Old Northern French chisel, cisel, from cisoir (with a change in suffix), from Late Latin cīsōrium (“cutting tool”), from Latin caedō (“cut”). Doublet of scissors.
From Middle English chisel, chesil, from Old English ċeosol, ċeosel, ċysel, ċisel, ċisil (“gravel, sand”), from Proto-West Germanic *kesul (“small stone, pebble”). See also chessom.