noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
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"Holonyms: plough, plow < implement"
"She chiselled a sculpture out of the block of wood."
"Laws that protect the environment are being chiseled away."
"He's managed to chisel a couple dollars from somewhere."
"When the concrete is hard, we use an electric drill instead of a pin chisel."
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.
Common synonyms include: assemble, autolithograph, bamboozle, be a printmaker, beat, beguile.
When the concrete is hard, we use an electric drill instead of a pin chisel.
Pronounced /ˈt͡ʃɪzəl/.
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.
From Middle English chisel, chesil, from Old English ċeosol, ċeosel, ċysel, ċisel, ċisil (“gravel, sand”), from Proto-West Germanic *kesul (“small stone, pebble”). See also chessom.