billhook

American  

[bil-hook] / ˈbɪlˌhʊk /

noun

1. bill.

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billhook British  

/ ˈbɪlˌhʊk /

noun

1. Also called: bill.  a cutting tool with a wooden handle and a curved blade terminating in a hook at its tip, used for pruning, chopping, etc

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Etymology

Origin of billhook

First recorded in 1605–15; bill ³ + hook ¹

Example Sentences

Watch Tim Radford — in dreadlocks, just 36, the future of the sport — wielding his billhook blade and laying into his section of brush like the queen’s own tree surgeon.

From Washington Post • Jan. 11, 2019

Max Reinhardt, whose castle�Leopoldskron�overlooks the crenelated streets of the old cathedral town, sent some weeks ago an army of mercenaries against the riding school with billhook, adz, hammer, saw.

From Time Magazine Archive

When he cut a hedge, for instance, Iden used to have the great bushes that bore unusually fine May bloom saved from the billhook, that they might flower in the spring.

From Amaryllis at the Fair by Jefferies, Richard

On that they gave me a woodman's billhook, and a seax,iii such as the churls wear, and one thrust a good ash, iron-shod quarterstaff into my hands.

From A Thane of Wessex by Whistler, Charles W. (Charles Watts)

Percy Houghton had brought his father's hedging-gloves and a billhook, so, leaving Anthony as sentry by the tree, David, with the aid of the boys, repaired the hedge.

From For the School Colours by Brazil, Angela

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