Meaning & use
pickaxe
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Meaning
nouncountable
A heavy tool with a long handle and a curved metal head pointed at both ends, used for breaking rock or hard ground.
Grammar: Countable: use a/an or a plural: a pickaxe, two pickaxes.
Patterns
- use a pickaxe to do something
- swing a pickaxe
The workers used a pickaxe to break up the frozen ground.
He swung the pickaxe until his arms ached.
A pickaxe lay against the wall of the tunnel.
Word forms
| plural | pickaxes |
|---|
Common combinations
- swing a pickaxe
- She swung the pickaxe hard at the rock.
- a pickaxe handle
- The pickaxe handle was worn smooth with use.
- use a pickaxe
- You'll need to use a pickaxe to get through this layer.
- a miner's pickaxe
- The old miner's pickaxe hung above the door.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pick
- A pick is the shorter, everyday name for the same tool; pickaxe is the fuller form used in writing and in tool catalogs.
- mattock
- A mattock looks similar but has one flat blade for digging, so it is better for soil than for solid rock.
Commonly confused: pickaxe or axe?
pickaxe vs axe
An axe has a single sharp blade for cutting wood, while a pickaxe has points for breaking stone.
Practice
Which sentence uses the tool word correctly?
Choose one answer.
A pickaxe is designed for breaking hard material such as rock, so 'break the rock' fits. Chopping firewood calls for an axe, which has a blade rather than points.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pickaxe”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.