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Definition of shovel verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

shovel

verb
 
/ˈʃʌvl/
 
/ˈʃʌvl/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they shovel
 
/ˈʃʌvl/
 
/ˈʃʌvl/
he / she / it shovels
 
/ˈʃʌvlz/
 
/ˈʃʌvlz/
past simple shovelled
 
/ˈʃʌvld/
 
/ˈʃʌvld/
past participle shovelled
 
/ˈʃʌvld/
 
/ˈʃʌvld/
(US English) past simple shoveled
 
/ˈʃʌvld/
 
/ˈʃʌvld/
(US English) past participle shoveled
 
/ˈʃʌvld/
 
/ˈʃʌvld/
-ing form shovelling
 
/ˈʃʌvlɪŋ/
 
/ˈʃʌvlɪŋ/
(US English) -ing form shoveling
 
/ˈʃʌvlɪŋ/
 
/ˈʃʌvlɪŋ/
jump to other results
  1. shovel something (+ adv./prep.) to lift and move earth, stones, coal, etc. with a shovel
    • A gang of workmen were shovelling rubble onto a truck.
    • They went out in freezing conditions to shovel snow.
    • (North American English) to shovel the sidewalk/driveway (= to remove snow)
    • (figurative) He sat at the table, shovelling food into his mouth.
    Topics Gardensc1
    Oxford Collocations DictionaryShovel is used with these nouns as the object:
    • coal
    • dirt
    • driveway
    See full entry
    Word OriginOld English scofl, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch schoffel, German Schaufel, also to the verb shove.
See shovel in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
trait
noun
 
 
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