shovels

Noun

shovel (plural shovels)

1. A hand tool with a handle, used for moving portions of material such as earth, snow, and grain from one place to another, with some forms also used for digging. In strict usage differentiated from a spade, which is designed solely for small-scale digging and incidental tasks such as chopping of small roots.
   • It was said that such train crews kept a spare shovel on board because, on numerous occasions, the beginner had not only zealously thrown coal into the firebox but had let the shovel go as well.1943 July and August, T. Lovatt Williams, “Some Reminiscences of the Footplate—1”, in Railway Magazine, pages 233–234
2. A mechanical part of an excavator with a similar function.
3. (US, broadly, especially) Any shovel in the above senses, or any spade.

See all 5 meanings of shovel