shoveler
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
- (one who, or that which, shovels): From shovel + -er; compare Middle English schoveler (“a person who works with a shovel”).
- (duck): From Middle English shoulere, shovellewre, shovelere, schoueler, alteration of earlier schovelerd, schulerde, schevelard (“shovelard”), from schovel (“shovel”), perhaps influenced by malard (“mallard”),[1] on model of Middle Dutch lepelaar (“spoonbill”), with Middle English -ard replacing -aar and later itself replaced by Middle English -er, but not completely certain.[2] It may be from the shape of its bill.
Noun
shoveler (plural shovelers)
- One who, or that which, shovels.
- 1910, Halbert Powers Gillette, Handbook of cost data for contractors and engineers:
- The sand was loaded by 3 shovelers into wheelbarrows holding 3.6 cu. ft. each...
- Any of four species of dabbling duck, in the genus Anas, with distinctive spatulate bills.
Derived terms
Derived terms
Translations
one who shovels
certain ducks with spoon-like bills
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References
- ^ “shoveler, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- ^ “shovelard, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.