pickaxe n 1: a heavy iron tool with a wooden handle and a curved head that is pointed on both ends; "they used picks and sledges to break the rocks" [syn: {pick}, {pickax}, {pickaxe}]
Pickax \Pick"ax`\, Pickaxe \Pick"axe`\ (p[i^]k"[a^]ks`), n. [A corruption of OE. pikois, pikeis, F. picois, fr. pic. See {Pick}, n.] A pick with a point at one end, a transverse edge or blade at the other, and a handle inserted at the middle; a hammer with a flattened end for driving wedges and a pointed end for piercing as it strikes. --Shak. [1913 Webster]