pickaxing
Striking stone repeatedly
Pickaxing is using a pickax—a tool with a pointed head on a long handle—to break up hard ground, rock, or pavement.
The word evokes manual labor and physical exertion: They spent the morning pickaxing through frozen soil.
Figuratively, it suggests persistent, forceful effort to break through something resistant.
Metal-bearing rock
- veinVessel toward heart
- goldElement seventy-nine
- coalCombustible sedimentary rock
- silverLustrous white precious metal
copper · diamond · quarry · excavation · tunnel · shaft · mineral · prospecting
Destroying completely
- destructionAct of completely ruining
- dismantlingTaking apart systematically
- razingComplete structural demolition
- rubbleBroken building fragments
debris · breaking · crumbling · smashing · concrete · masonry · walls · foundation
Strenuous, prolonged effort
- sweatMoisture from skin pores
- diggingRemoving earth below
- manualWritten instructions for use
- drudgeryHard, boring work
grind · backbreaking · exertion · muscle · strain · effort · grueling · exhausting
Suspended recreational seat
- strikeForceful impact or stoppage
- chipSmall broken-off piece
- splitSeparation into parts
- crackNarrow break or attempt
break · chisel · carve · leverage · grip · arc · downstroke · overhead
Act of unearthing
- digUnearth by shoveling
- siteDesignated location
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
trowel · fossils · ceramics · heritage · ruins · prehistoric · survey · unearthing
ore
Metal-bearing rock
silver · copper · diamond · quarry · excavation · tunnel · shaft · mineral · prospecting · geology
wrecking
Destroying completely
- destructionAct of completely ruining
- dismantlingTaking apart systematically
- razingComplete structural demolition
rubble · debris · breaking · crumbling · smashing · concrete · masonry · walls · foundation · jackhammer
toil
Strenuous, prolonged effort
drudgery · grind · backbreaking · exertion · muscle · strain · effort · grueling · exhausting · calloused
swing
Suspended recreational seat
crack · break · chisel · carve · leverage · grip · arc · downstroke · overhead · precision
excavation
Act of unearthing
stratigraphy · trowel · fossils · ceramics · heritage · ruins · prehistoric · survey · unearthing · layers
pickaxingblasting
Explosive material removal
dynamiting · drilling · jackhammering · bulldozing · boring
pickaxingfilling
Material placed within
paving · cementing · compacting · backfilling · building up
pick, picking, picked, mining, picks, picker, pickers, unpicked, pickaxe