billhook

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A medieval polearm, fitted to a long handle, sometimes with an L-shaped tine or a spike…

   A medieval polearm, fitted to a long handle, sometimes with an L-shaped tine or a spike protruding from the side or the end of the blade for tackling the opponent; a bill.

2. 2

   An agricultural hand tool often with a curved or hooked end to the blade used for pruning…

   An agricultural hand tool often with a curved or hooked end to the blade used for pruning or cutting thick, woody plants.

   • With a small billhook he carefully freed the collar of the tree from twigs and patches of moss which incrusted it to a height of a foot or two above the ground, an operation comparable to the "little toilet" of the executioner's victim.
3. 3

   A part of the knotting mechanism in a reaper-binder or baler (agricultural machinery).

4. ›+ 3 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Rare form of bill hook (“spiked hook used in shops for hanging papers”).

   2. 5

      Rare form of bill hook (“sharply pointed spike on honeyguide hatchlings' mandibles”).

   3. 6

      To use a billhook.

      • Toward the end of July, Vatanen took a forestry job. It meant billhooking and chopping excessive undergrowth from the woods on the sandy ridges around Kuhmo and living in a tent with an ever more faithful, almost full- grown hare.

The neighborhood

• synonymhandbill
• synonympruning hook
• synonymhack
• synonymhacker
• synonymhedging bill
• synonymhedging-bill
• synonymhedge bill
• synonymbill
• synonymbroom hook
• synonymblock hook
• synonymYorkshire bill
• synonymvine hook
• neighborbrush hook
• neighborcrowbill
• neighborhawkbill