chisel

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
11
Words With Friends
12
Letters
6
Pronunciation
/ˈt͡ʃɪzəl/

Definition of chisel

10 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. 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.
See all 10 definitions

noun

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
    “Holonyms: plough, plow < implement”
  4. (uncountable, usually)Gravel.
  5. (plural-normally, uncountable, usually)Coarse flour; bran; the coarser part of bran or flour.

verb

  1. (intransitive)To use a chisel.
  2. (transitive)To work something with a chisel.
    “She chiselled a sculpture out of the block of wood.”
  3. (dated, transitive)To barge in on (something); to intrude on (something).
  4. (figuratively, transitive)To make small changes to (something), bit by bit, resulting in change over time.
    “Laws that protect the environment are being chiseled away.”
  5. (ambitransitive, informal)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.”
    “She's always either chiseling or groveling, it seems.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

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.

Hooks

1 extension · 1 back

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