mattock

Meanings

Plural: mattocks

Noun

a kind of pick that is used for digging; has a flat blade set at right angles to the handle
An agricultural tool whose blades are at right angles to the body, similar to a pickaxe.

Verb

To cut or dig with a mattock.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English mattok (“mattock, pickaxe”), from Old English mattuc, meottoc, mettoc (“mattock, fork, trident”), from Proto-West Germanic *mattjuk (“mattock, ploughshare”), from Proto-Indo-European *met- (“to cut, reap”). Related to Old High German medela (“plough”), Middle High German metze, metz (“knife”), Latin mateola (“implement for digging in the soil”), Polish motyka (“hoe, mattock”), Russian моты́га (motýga, “hoe, mattock”), Lithuanian matikkas (“mattock”), Sanskrit मत्य (matyà, “harrow, roller, club”). More at mason.

Scrabble Score: 15

mattock is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
mattock is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
mattock is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 17

mattock is a valid Words With Friends word