chisel.
A cutting tool used to remove parts of stone, wood or metal by pushing or pounding the back when the sharp edge is against the material. It consists of a slim, oblong block of metal with a sharp wedge or bevel formed on one end and sometimes a handle at the other end; there are hand tool versions (the original type) and versions as bits for power tools.
Meaning & usage
A cutting tool used to remove parts of stone, wood or metal by pushing or pounding the back when the sharp edge is against the material. It consists of a slim, oblong block of metal with a sharp wedge or bevel formed on one end and sometimes a handle at the other end; there are hand tool versions (the original type) and versions as bits for power tools.
A part of any of various tools or devices that has an analogous purpose, cutting raw material or a workpiece during the process that the tool or device performs.
A part of any of various tools or devices that has an analogous purpose, cutting raw material or a workpiece during the process that the tool or device performs. A part of some ploughs, next to the ploughshare, that helps cut into the soil and deal with obstructions such as rocks, roots, and stems.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Late Latin cīsōrium Old French cisoir Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Old French -el Old French cisel Anglo-Norman chiselbor. Middle English chisel English chisel From Middle English chisel, chesel, from Old Northern French chisel, cisel, from cisoir (with a change in suffix), from Late Latin cīsōrium (“cutting tool”), from Latin caedō (“cut”). Doublet of scissors.
To use a chisel.
To work something with a chisel.
She chiselled a sculpture out of the block of wood.
To barge in on (something); to intrude on (something).
To make small changes to (something), bit by bit, resulting in change over time.
Laws that protect the environment are being chiseled away.
To beg or pressure somebody into giving up (something); to haggle excessively; to cheat; to obtain something from (someone) by cheating.
He's managed to chisel a couple dollars from somewhere.
She can always chisel whatever she needs from her father.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Late Latin cīsōrium Old French cisoir Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Old French -el Old French cisel Anglo-Norman chiselbor. Middle English chisel English chisel From Middle English chisel, chesel, from Old Northern French chisel, cisel, from cisoir (with a change in suffix), from Late Latin cīsōrium (“cutting tool”), from Latin caedō (“cut”). Doublet of scissors.
Gravel.
Coarse flour; bran; the coarser part of bran or flour.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English chisel, chesil, from Old English ċeosol, ċeosel, ċysel, ċisel, ċisil (“gravel, sand”), from Proto-West Germanic *kesul (“small stone, pebble”). See also chessom.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.