pickax

[ pik-aks ]

/ ˈpɪkˌæks /

a pick, especially a mattock.

to cut or clear away with a pickax.

to use a pickax.

Origin of pickax

1275–1325; pick² + ax; replacing Middle English picois < Middle French, Old French; akin to French pic pick². See pique¹

At the first stroke of the pickax it is ten to one but what you are taken up for a trespass.

An English Grammar |W. M. Baskervill and J. W. Sewell
After that somebody took a pickax and cracked in my jaw with it.

Behind the Beyond |Stephen Leacock
We got over the heavy floe-ice, to find ourselves confronted with jagged, rough ice, where we had to pickax our way.

A Negro Explorer at the North Pole |Matthew A. Henson
Jack and Alfonso were supplied with a pickax, a shovel and a basket.

The Slave of the Mine |Bracebridge Hemyng

Mrs. Surratt said to Mr. Morgan: "I am so glad you officers came here to-night, for this man came here with a pickax to kill us."

Between the Lines |Henry Bascom Smith