Word forms: plural pickaxesregional note: in AM, use pickax
countable noun
A pickaxe is a large tool consisting of a curved, pointed piece of metal with a long handle joined to the middle. Pickaxes are used for breaking up rocks or the ground.
pickaxe in British English
or US pickax (ˈpɪkˌæks)
noun
1.
a large pick or mattock
verb
2.
to use a pickaxe on (earth, rocks, etc)
Word origin
C15: from earlier pikois (but influenced also by axe), from Old French picois, from picpick2; compare also pique1
Examples of 'pickaxe' in a sentence
pickaxe
He had a dirty white beard, and in one hand he carried a little pickaxe.
Arthur, Robert THREE IN ONE (2002)
It was the sound of someone using a pickaxe to dig, deep underground!