backhoe

noun

back·​hoe ˈbak-ˌhō How to pronounce backhoe (audio)
: an excavating machine having a bucket that is attached to a rigid bar hinged to a boom and that is drawn toward the machine in operation

Examples of backhoe in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
This would be a good time to own a backhoe business. Terri Daxon, Oc Register, 21 Aug. 2025 Remember when Trump threw healthy school lunches to the curb, then had the White House vegetable garden plowed under so deep that backhoe crews hit the Epstein files? Pat Beall, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 Aug. 2025 Jenny and Chris Harmon’s house caught on fire last year when construction workers rebuilding a home on the lot next door used a backhoe to knock down a tree, ripping the electrical wires off the couple’s home. Taylor O'Connor, Kansas City Star, 3 Aug. 2025 Crews used backhoes and their bare hands Wednesday to dig through piles of debris that stretched for miles along the Guadalupe River in the search of the missing. Sean Murphy, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for backhoe

Word History

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of backhoe was in 1928

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Backhoe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/backhoe. Accessed 5 Sep. 2025.

Kids Definition

backhoe

noun
back·​hoe -ˌhō How to pronounce backhoe (audio)
: a large machine that digs into the earth with a metal scoop drawn toward the machine

More from Merriam-Webster on backhoe

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