chisel
noun · verb
Simple meaning
An edge tool with a flat steel blade with a cutting edge.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
chizuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtʃɪzəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
An edge tool with a flat steel blade with a cutting edge
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.
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.
usually in the plural
Coarse flour; bran; the coarser part of bran or flour.
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.
verb
transitivefigurative
To make small changes to (something), bit by bit, resulting in change over time.
Carve with a chisel
transitive
To work something with a chisel.
intransitive
To use a chisel.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An edge tool with a flat steel blade with a cutting edge
Used this way, chisel is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.