Tools / Dig and break

Dig and break

Tools that loosen, remove or break earth, rock, concrete and blockages: shovels, spades, picks and mattocks, digging bars, breakers and compactors, and the augers and plungers of the drain.

3 tools written

• PickaxeA heavy forged head on a long wooden handle, with a pointed tip at one end or both, swung to break hard ground, rock and old paving into pieces that a shovel can then remove.
• ShovelA broad blade on a long handle, pushed into loose material with the foot or hands, lifted and thrown. It moves earth, gravel, sand, coal, grain and snow, and in North America the word also covers the spade.
• SpadeA flat-bladed digging tool with a straight cutting edge, driven into the ground by foot pressure and used to cut and lift earth, slice sod and square the sides of holes and trenches.