adze

or adz

[ adz ]

noun

1. an axlike tool, for dressing timbers roughly, with a curved, chisel-like steel head mounted at a right angle to the wooden handle.

verb (used with object)

, adzed, adz·ing.

1. to dress or shape (wood) with an adze.

adze

/ ædz /

noun

1. a heavy hand tool with a steel cutting blade attached at right angles to a wooden handle, used for dressing timber

Word History and Origins

Origin of adze¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English ad(e)se, Old English adesa; of obscure origin

Word History and Origins

Origin of adze¹

Old English adesa

Example Sentences

Axes created a more symmetrical, oval fracture than the adze, for example.

From Science Magazine

“I have only a saw, hammer, chisel, and adze, but we are managing alright,” he reported in his diary.

From Literature

It’s as if she’s been carved like an archetypal totem, but with matte and glossy house paint, charcoal and oil paint on canvas rather than with a chisel or an adze from stone or wood.

From Los Angeles Times

At one site he uncovered ample evidence of prehistoric carpentry — woodworking tools and a massive pine plank, roughly 11,300 years old, that he believes had been smoothed with an adze.

From New York Times

Holm showed Jackson, using his own adze that he had made from yew wood, with a thin handle that flexed.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• blade
• knife