backhoe
/ˈbæk.həʊ/noun, verb
backhoe is spelled B-A-C-K-H-O-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 60,074th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, backhoe means “A piece of excavating equipment, either an integral subassembly or an attachment, consisting of a digging bucket or scoop on the end of an…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of backhoe is backhoes.
How many letters and syllables are in backhoe?
| Letters | 7: B-A-C-K-H-O-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 60,074th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is backhoe?
Backhoe appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 60,074th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce backhoe?
- /ˈbæk.həʊ/
Backhoe has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: EN-AU_ck1_backhoe.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-backhoe.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of backhoe
- backhoes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- backhoeing participle, present
- backhoed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does backhoe mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A piece of excavating equipment, either an integral subassembly or an attachment, consisting of a digging bucket or scoop on the end of an articulated arm, drawn backwards to move earth; used in excavator/digger and backhoe tractors.
- 2
Ellipsis of backhoe tractor: A specialized tractor with the backhoe subassembly. This type of tractor has been superceded by the backhoe loader and trackhoe in most roles.
- 3
AustraliaCanadaUSEllipsis of backhoe loader: A multi-purpose tractor with a front-mounted loading bucket and a rear-mounted digging bucket. The tractor combines a front-end loader/loader (component) and an excavator/digger (component).
Meronym: front-end loader
verb
- 1
To excavate using such equipment.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Backhoe in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tractopelle, rétrocaveuse , chargeuse-pelleteuse, pépine |
| German | Baggerschaufel , Baggerlader |
| Portuguese | retroescavadora, retroescavadeira |
| Spanish | retroexcavadora, retrocargadora, excavadora mixta, cargadora mixta, pala mixta |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does backhoe come from?
From back + hoe.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).