hoe
/hou/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- A gardening or farming tool consisting of a long handle with a flat, thin blade set at a right angle, used for breaking up soil, removing weeds, and shaping earth.
Verb:
- To use a hoe to break, turn, or weed soil. This action involves a chopping or scraping motion to cultivate the ground or remove unwanted plants.
Usage and Examples
Noun:
- The gardener used a sharp hoe to loosen the compacted soil.
- An essential tool for early agriculture was a simple wooden hoe.
Verb:
- She spent the morning hoeing the vegetable patch to prepare for planting.
- If you don't hoe the weeds regularly, they will choke the seedlings.
Advanced Usage
- "to hoe one's own row": An idiom meaning to manage one's own affairs or business independently and diligently.
- He doesn't get involved in office politics; he just hoes his own row.
Variants and Related Words
- Hoeing (gerund/noun): The activity of using a hoe.
- Hoeing is good exercise for the arms and back.
- Hoe-blade (noun): The flat, cutting part of a hoe.
- The hoe-blade was worn down from years of use.
Synonyms
- Cultivate (verb): To prepare and use land for crops, which can involve hoeing.
- Tiller (noun): A person or a tool that tills land; a similar agricultural tool.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Hoe out (phrasal verb): To clear an area thoroughly using a hoe, especially to remove weeds or unwanted plants.
- We need to hoe out this entire bed before we can plant the new flowers.
Related Idioms
- A hard/tough row to hoe: A difficult task or situation to deal with.
- Recovering from the economic crisis will be a tough row to hoe for the new government.
Noun
- a tool with a flat blade attached at right angles to a long handle
Verb
- dig with a hoe
- He is hoeing the flower beds