rototiller

American  

[roh-tuh-til-er] / ˈroʊ təˌtɪl ər /

Or roto-tiller,

noun

1. a motorized device having spinning blades perpendicular to the ground and arranged like spokes, used for tilling soil.

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Etymology

Origin of rototiller

First recorded in 1920–25; rot(ary) + -o- + tiller ¹

Example Sentences

Before the pandemic the city shelled out $110,000 when pigs, rooting for grubs, churned soccer and baseball fields like a rototiller.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 1, 2022

It used to be an article of faith in gardening that you must begin the whole enterprise by turning the soil, either with a shovel, spade or the frenzied paddling of the rototiller.

From Washington Post • Jul. 13, 2021

“We had one rototiller and shared it - that sort of thing,” Lyman said.

From Washington Times • Feb. 12, 2015

Six months into our stay, in need of some stowed childcare essentials, my wife had movers come back to the house, simply to reshuffle our impenetrable wall of belongings like a rototiller.

From Slate • Oct. 20, 2011

She made enough money to buy a tractor and rototiller.

From New York Times • Oct. 10, 2011