shovel
shov·el/ˈʃʌv.əl/noun, verb
shovel is spelled S-H-O-V-E-L: 6 letters and 2 syllables (shov·el). It appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,928th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, shovel means “A hand tool with a handle, used for moving portions of material such as earth, snow, and grain from one place to another, with some forms also used…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of shovel is shovels.
How many letters and syllables are in shovel?
| Letters | 6: S-H-O-V-E-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: shov·el |
| In writing | 3.2 times per million words; the 14,928th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is shovel?
Shovel appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,928th 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 shovel?
- US /ˈʃʌv.əl/
- US [ˈʃʌv.ɫ̩]
- /ˈʃʊv.əl/
Shovel has 2 syllables, split shov·el in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-shovel.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with shovel
Also written: shoveling, shovelling.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of shovel
- shovels plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- shoveling US, participle, present
- shovelling UK, participle, present
- shoveled US, participle, past
- shovelled UK, participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does shovel mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A hand tool with a handle, used for moving portions of material such as earth, snow, and grain from one place to another, with some forms also used for digging. In strict usage differentiated from a spade, which is designed solely for small-scale digging and incidental tasks such as chopping of small roots.
- 2
A mechanical part of an excavator with a similar function.
- 3
USAny shovel in the above senses, or any spade.
- 4
Ellipsis of shovel hat.
verb
- 1
To move materials with a shovel.
The workers were shovelling gravel and tarmac into the pothole in the road.
- 2
To move with a shoveling motion.
Already late for work, I shovelled breakfast into my mouth as fast as possible.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Shovel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pelle, bêche , peller |
| German | Schaufel, Schüppe , schaufeln, schippen |
| Portuguese | pá , palear, padejar |
| Spanish | pala , traspalar, palear |
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 shovel come from?
From Middle English schovele, schovel, showell, shole (> English dialectal shoul, shool), from Old English scofl (“shovel”), from Proto-Germanic *skuflō, *skūflō (“shovel”), equivalent to shove + -el (instrumental/agent suffix).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).