chisel
/ˈt͡ʃɪzəl/
chisel noun: a cutting tool used to remove parts of stone, wood or metal by pushing or pounding the back when the sharp edge is against the material. It consists of a slim, oblong block of metal with a sharp wedge or bevel formed on one end and sometimes a handle at the other end; there are hand tool versions (the original type) and versions as bits for power tools.
Noun (1)
chisel (plural chisels)
- A cutting tool used to remove parts of stone, wood or metal by pushing or pounding the back when the sharp edge is against the material. It consists of a slim, oblong block of metal with a sharp wedge or bevel formed on one end and sometimes a handle at the other end; there are hand tool versions (the original type) and versions as bits for power tools.
- A part of any of various tools or devices that has an analogous purpose, cutting raw material or a workpiece during the process that the tool or device performs.
- A part of some ploughs, next to the ploughshare, that helps cut into the soil and deal with obstructions such as rocks, roots, and stems.
- Holonyms: plough, plow < implement
- A part of some ploughs, next to the ploughshare, that helps cut into the soil and deal with obstructions such as rocks, roots, and stems.
Verb
chisel (third-person singular simple present chisels, present participle (US) chiseling or (UK) chiselling, simple past and past participle (US) chiseled or (UK) chiselled)
- To use a chisel.
- Synonyms:
- chip
- To work something with a chisel.
- She chiselled a sculpture out of the block of wood.
- Synonyms:
- chip
- To barge in on (something); to intrude on (something).
- To make small changes to (something), bit by bit, resulting in change over time.
- Laws that protect the environment are being chiseled away.
- Synonyms:
- chip away
- To beg or pressure somebody into giving up (something); to haggle excessively; to cheat; to obtain something from (someone) by cheating.
- He's managed to chisel a couple dollars from somewhere.
- She can always chisel whatever she needs from her father.
Noun (2)
chisel (usually uncountable, plural chisels)
chisel meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
chisel in Hindi
- tool consisting of a slim oblong block of metal
- छेनी chenī
chisel in Tamil
- பொறி, உளி
chisel in Marathi
- chisel
- पटाशी paṭāśī
chisel in Urdu
- چھینی, چھینی سے تراشنا, کاٹنا
More languagesFewer languages
- chisel in Bengali
- কাঠ, পাথর কাটার ধারালো হাতিয়ার
- chisel in Telugu
- శానం śānaṁ, చెక్కు cekku
- chisel in Malayalam
- ഉളി uḷi
- chisel in Kannada
- ಉಳಿ, ಚಾಣ, ಚೀರಣ, ಚಿರಣೆ
- chisel in Gujarati
- છીણી chīṇī
- chisel in Sanskrit
- ताष्टि tāṣṭi
- chisel in Nepali
- छिनो chino, राँबो rā̃bo, रामो rāmo
- chisel in Tagalog
- pait, paningkal
- chisel in Arabic
- إِزْمِيل ʔizmīl
- chisel in Malay
- pahat
- chisel in Persian
- اسکنه eskene
- chisel in Thai
- สิ่ว sìu
- chisel in Vietnamese
- cái đục
Examples of chisel in a sentence
- Trying to open a paint can with a chisel is a misapplication of the tool.
- We have to chisel out school funding from the debate.
- He's chiseling in on our operation.
Synonyms of chisel
Forms of chisel
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | chisels |
| alternative form | chesil |
| alternative form | chissel |
| alternative form | chessil |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | chisels |
| present participle US | chiseling |
| present participle UK | chiselling |
| past participle US | chiseled |
| past US | chiseled |
| past participle UK | chiselled |
| past UK | chiselled |
Origin of chisel
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.
Words formed from chisel
Words that rhyme with chisel
Questions about chisel
- What does chisel mean?
- Chisel means a cutting tool used to remove parts of stone, wood or metal by pushing or pounding the back when the sharp edge is against the material. It consists of a slim, oblong block of metal with a sharp wedge or bevel formed on one end and sometimes a handle at the other end; there are hand tool versions (the original type) and versions as bits for power tools.
- What is chisel in Hindi?
- Chisel in Hindi is छेनी (chenī). See Chisel meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is chisel?
- Chisel can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce chisel?
- Chisel is pronounced /ˈt͡ʃɪzəl/.
- What is the plural of chisel?
- The plural of chisel is chisels.
Words near chisel in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: chisel (page history and authors); chisel (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); पटाशी (Marathi) (page history and authors); chisel (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); chisel (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ഉളി (Malayalam) (page history and authors); chisel (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-chisel.ogg.
Cite this entry: “chisel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chisel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.