Illustration of adze
variants
or less commonly adz
: a cutting tool that has a thin arched blade set at right angles to the handle and is used chiefly for shaping wood
Examples of adze in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Other tools are far more complex and specialized contraptions, such as Polynesian quadrangular adzes, multifaceted stone blades used by ancient Hawaiians to cut wood.
—
Jack Tamisiea, Scientific American, 17 June 2024
Marks on the wooden boats were consistent with microscopic wear patterns on the adzes’ surfaces.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 20 Mar. 2024
The shipbuilders probably constructed the whole vessel without the use of a single saw blade, employing instead axes and adzes, mallets and wedges.
—William Booth, Washington Post, 11 June 2023
Thirteen-year-old Chulhs Bates brandished an adze and hopped back and forth on the half-hollowed log.
—Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2021
The fixed head of the axe features a pick and usually a horizontal adze.
—Chris Meehan, Popular Mechanics, 26 Jan. 2023
At Schöneck, the lower leg bones of most of the young men showed a nearly identical pattern of blunt force breakage probably made by the Neolithic weapon of choice, the ax-like adze.
—Hillary Waterman, Discover Magazine, 2 Jan. 2019
It’s as if she’s been carved like an archetypal totem, but with matte and glossy house paint, charcoal and oil paint on canvas rather than with a chisel or an adze from stone or wood.
—Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2022
The pallets with firefighting equipment—chainsaws, shovels, beaters, Pulaskis (combination ax-adze tools)—are dropping into the landing zone.
—Mark Jenkins, National Geographic, 12 June 2019
Jack Tamisiea, Scientific American, 17 June 2024
Marks on the wooden boats were consistent with microscopic wear patterns on the adzes’ surfaces.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 20 Mar. 2024
The shipbuilders probably constructed the whole vessel without the use of a single saw blade, employing instead axes and adzes, mallets and wedges.
—William Booth, Washington Post, 11 June 2023
Thirteen-year-old Chulhs Bates brandished an adze and hopped back and forth on the half-hollowed log.
—Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2021
The fixed head of the axe features a pick and usually a horizontal adze.
—Chris Meehan, Popular Mechanics, 26 Jan. 2023
At Schöneck, the lower leg bones of most of the young men showed a nearly identical pattern of blunt force breakage probably made by the Neolithic weapon of choice, the ax-like adze.
—Hillary Waterman, Discover Magazine, 2 Jan. 2019
It’s as if she’s been carved like an archetypal totem, but with matte and glossy house paint, charcoal and oil paint on canvas rather than with a chisel or an adze from stone or wood.
—Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2022
The pallets with firefighting equipment—chainsaws, shovels, beaters, Pulaskis (combination ax-adze tools)—are dropping into the landing zone.
—Mark Jenkins, National Geographic, 12 June 2019
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'adze.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near adze
Cite this Entry
“Adze.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adze. Accessed 10 Sep. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
adze
noun
variants
also adz
: a cutting tool that has a thin arched blade set at right angles to the handle and is used chiefly for shaping wood
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share