shovel
n. countablen. a tool with a long handle and a broad, flat blade. You use it for moving loose material like dirt, snow, or coal.
n. a tool consisting of a broad blade or scoop attached to a long handle, used for lifting and moving loose material. Often distinguished from a spade by its larger, more curved blade designed for scooping rather than cutting.
He used a shovel to clear the snow from the driveway.
The gardener kept a heavy-duty shovel in the shed for moving large piles of mulch into the flower beds.
Archaeologists must balance the efficiency of a large shovel for removing topsoil with the precision of smaller hand tools once they reach the sensitive layers of the excavation site.
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”), Faroese skupla (“shovel”), Icelandic skófla (“shovel”), Norwegian skyfle (“shovel”), skyffel (“shovel, hoe”), Swedish skyffel, skovel (“shovel”).
Commonly used with the verb 'to use' or 'to grab'; can also function as a verb meaning the act of moving material.