chisel

English

A wood chisel
Two cold chisels

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈt͡ʃɪzəl/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪzəl

Etymology 1

Etymology tree
Late Latin cīsōrium
Old French cisoir
Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-
Proto-Indo-European *-is
Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?
Proto-Italic *-ālis
Latin -ālis
Old French -el
Old French cisel
Anglo-Norman chiselbor.
Middle English chisel
English chisel

    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.

    Noun

    chisel (plural chisels)

    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.
      1. A part of some ploughs, next to the ploughshare, that helps cut into the soil and deal with obstructions such as rocks, roots, and stems.
        Holonyms: plough, plow < implement
        Comeronyms: ploughshare, plowshare, moldboard, mouldboard, coulter, colter
    Derived terms
    Translations
    See also

    Verb

    chisel (third-person singular simple present chisels, present participle (US) chiseling or (UK) chiselling, simple past and past participle (US) chiseled or (UK) chiselled)

    1. (intransitive) To use a chisel.
      Synonym: chip (dialectal)
    2. (transitive) To work something with a chisel.
      Synonym: chip (dialectal)
      She chiselled a sculpture out of the block of wood.
    3. (transitive, dated) To barge in on (something); to intrude on (something).
    4. (transitive, figurative) To make small changes to (something), bit by bit, resulting in change over time.
      Synonym: chip away
      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.
    Usage notes

    chiselling and chiselled are more common in the UK while chiseling and chiseled are more common in the US.

    Derived terms
    Translations

    Etymology 2

    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.

    Alternative forms

    Noun

    chisel (usually uncountable, plural chisels)

    1. Gravel.
    2. (usually in the plural) Coarse flour; bran; the coarser part of bran or flour.
    • chessom

    Further reading

    Anagrams

    Middle English

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

      From Anglo-Norman chisel.

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /t͡ʃiˈzɛːl/, /ˈt͡ʃizɛl/, /ˈt͡ʃeːzɛl/

      Noun

      chisel (plural chisels)

      1. Any of several cutting tools used by stone masons.

      Descendants

      • English: chisel
      • Yola: chisool

      References

      Old French

      Noun

      chisel oblique singular, m (oblique plural chiseaus or chiseax or chisiaus or chisiax or chisels, nominative singular chiseaus or chiseax or chisiaus or chisiax or chisels, nominative plural chisel)

      1. (Old Norman) alternative form of cisel
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