How to use trowel in a sentence

12 example sentences · noun, verb

Trowel means a mason’s tool, used in spreading and dressing mortar, and breaking bricks to shape them. Example: “I need to dig a hole for these begonias; would you pass me that trowel?”

Examples of trowel by meaning

nounA gardener’s tool, shaped like a scoop, used in taking up plants, stirring soil etc.

I need to dig a hole for these begonias; would you pass me that trowel?

verbTo apply (a substance) with a trowel.

He troweled the coarse mix with a twist, leaving a pattern of arcs.

verbTo apply something heavily or unsubtly.

But mercifully, there's no big subtext being troweled on here.2014 July 1, Steve Rose, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: a primate scream - first look review”, in The Guardian

More sentences with trowel

Drag the trowel through the plaster to texture the wall.From the entry texture
Réné came on quietly, his trowel in one hand, some auricula roots in the other.1919, Michael Wood, The White Island, page 122. From the entry auricula
He was now crotched down on his knees, diligently digging at a plant, a trowel now in his hand.2019, Mary Kay Abbott, Heartache and Hope. From the entry crotch down
I watch as the mason at the Gilbert house picks up a glob of parge coat on his trowel.1990 May, Cheryl M. Fiorillo, “Lightweight block, heavyweight insulator”, in Popular Science, volume 236, number 5, New York, N.Y.…. From the entry parge
I nearly conked her one with my trowel.1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC. From the entry conk
A urethane or neoprene coating which is spray (thincoat) applied or troweled, generally with colored chips added, as a finished floor covering.2001, Dodge Repair & Remodel Cost Guide, page 590. From the entry thincoat
Parging is a single layer of mortar applied directly to the wall with a trowel so that it covers the entire surface.1991 July–August, Paul Briggs, “Mortars & finishes”, in The Old-House Journal, volume XIX, number 4, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.: Old House…. From the entry parge
Oh, they seem to be the picture of contentment, tripping about with their triple-sanitized trowels and weeding forks, but in reality these neatniks are a seething cauldron of aversions.2006, Des Kennedy, The Passionate Gardener: Adventures of an Ardent Green Thumb, Greystone Books, →ISBN, page 208. From the entry blennophobia
This is a small handboard used with a pointing trowel and its purpose is to support small amounts of pointing mortar ( figure 1.31 ) .1990, Harold Bailey, David W. Hancock, Brickwork 1 and Associated Studies, page 6. From the entry handboard

Meaning of trowel

noun A mason’s tool, used in spreading and dressing mortar, and breaking bricks to shape them.
noun A gardener’s tool, shaped like a scoop, used in taking up plants, stirring soil etc.
noun A tool used for smoothing a mold.

Full definition of trowel

Questions about trowel in a sentence

How do you use trowel in a sentence?: Trowel is used as a noun and verb. For example: “I need to dig a hole for these begonias; would you pass me that trowel?”
What is a short sentence with trowel?: “I nearly conked her one with my trowel.”
What does trowel mean?: Trowel means a mason’s tool, used in spreading and dressing mortar, and breaking bricks to shape them.

Adapted from Wiktionary: trowel (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use trowel in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/trowel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.