Illustration of mattock
: a digging and grubbing tool with features of an adze and an ax or pick
Examples of mattock in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Shovels, picks or mattocks, and a wheelbarrow are best for clearing the ground.
—
Nevin Martell, Washington Post, 19 July 2023
The mattock’s two ends can dig earth and tear roots.
—Noah Robertson, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 May 2022
Use a mattock to create a trench for mass planting.
—Adrian Higgins, Washington Post, 20 Sep. 2021
Hacking through thorny multiflora rose to get to stubborn bittersweet roots, then heaving a mattock into the earth to pull them up, can be exhausting.
—Stephanie Foo, Curbed, 11 Aug. 2021
For the gardener in your life, buy a five-gallon bucket and fill it with Felco pruners and a blade sharpener, root saw, folding pruning saw, weeder, soil scoop or trowel, mattock, garden tape, scissors and pliable garden gloves.
—oregonlive, 16 Dec. 2020
My preferred tool for planting in tight spots is the mattock, especially if the soil is on the poor side.
—Adrian Higgins, Washington Post, 21 Oct. 2020
On that night at the Hinterkaifeck farmstead, the farmer, his wife, their widowed daughter, two grandchildren aged 7 and 2, and the family maid, all were killed with a mattock, or pickaxe.
—Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, 28 Jan. 2018
Start by using a shovel or garden mattock to remove any rocks from around the base of the stump.
—Joseph Truini, Popular Mechanics, 1 Apr. 2015
Nevin Martell, Washington Post, 19 July 2023
The mattock’s two ends can dig earth and tear roots.
—Noah Robertson, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 May 2022
Use a mattock to create a trench for mass planting.
—Adrian Higgins, Washington Post, 20 Sep. 2021
Hacking through thorny multiflora rose to get to stubborn bittersweet roots, then heaving a mattock into the earth to pull them up, can be exhausting.
—Stephanie Foo, Curbed, 11 Aug. 2021
For the gardener in your life, buy a five-gallon bucket and fill it with Felco pruners and a blade sharpener, root saw, folding pruning saw, weeder, soil scoop or trowel, mattock, garden tape, scissors and pliable garden gloves.
—oregonlive, 16 Dec. 2020
My preferred tool for planting in tight spots is the mattock, especially if the soil is on the poor side.
—Adrian Higgins, Washington Post, 21 Oct. 2020
On that night at the Hinterkaifeck farmstead, the farmer, his wife, their widowed daughter, two grandchildren aged 7 and 2, and the family maid, all were killed with a mattock, or pickaxe.
—Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, 28 Jan. 2018
Start by using a shovel or garden mattock to remove any rocks from around the base of the stump.
—Joseph Truini, Popular Mechanics, 1 Apr. 2015
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mattock.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near mattock
Cite this Entry
“Mattock.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mattock. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
mattock
noun
mat·tock
ˈmat-ək 
: a tool for digging made of a long wooden handle and a steel head one end of which comes to a point or to a cutting edge
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