A shovel is a tool for lifting and moving loose material such as coal, gravel, snow, soil, or sand and is an extremely common tool which is used extensively in agriculture, construction and gardening. It is usually a hand tool consisting of a broad blade with edges or sides that is fixed to a medium-length handle. Hand shovel blades are typically made of pressed sheet steel, folded at the back to make a socket for the handle. The handles are usually made of wood, although steel or even lightweight composite materials may also be used, and is riveted in place. A T-piece is commonly fitted to the end of the handle to aid grip and control where the shovel is designed for moving soil and heavy materials. This design can be easily mass produced. The term "shovel" is also applied to larger excavating machines, such as steam shovels, which are designed for the same purpose—lifting and moving material, see Loader (equipment). Hand shovels have been adapted for many different tasks and environments. They can be optimized for a single task or designed as cross-over or compromise tools to perform multiple tasks, for example:
- A coal shovel typically has a wide, flat blade with steeply turned sides, a flat face and a short D-shaped handle.
- A snowshovel often has a very wide sideless blade that curves upward attached to a long, straight handle. It is designed as much for pushing the snow as for lifting it. The blade can be metal or plastic, but the latter has been used to offer a lighter tool.
- A spade is designed primarily for breaking up ("spading") clumps of soil. A spade usually has a point and is designed to be pushed into the soil with a foot. Spade blades usually have a rounded face without sharply upturned sides.
- A Trench shovel is long and narrow, used for digging fairly deep, but narrow trenches, or post-holes.
- A gardening trowel is a small single-hand implement for breaking up clumps in soil. Gardening trowels typically have strong, narrow blades with sharp points.
- An entrenching tool is a collapsible and/or compact shovel designed for the military. It may have a spade-like point with sharpened or even serrated edges for secondary use as an axe or saw, respectively. Some militaries of the world (most notably units of the Soviet Union) train their servicemen to use entrenching shovels as makeshift close combat weapons. This tactic has been widely used in the battlefields of World War I and World War II.
- A roofing shovel is a specialized prying tool which evolved from the use of spading forks and pitchforks to remove old shingles and underlayment as part of roof repair.
- Toy shovels are common playthings on sandy beaches or in sandboxes.
- Barn Shovel used to shovel grain
- Coal shovel used to shovel coal
- Garden Shovel used a spade like blade to dig into hard dirt
The traffic signs warning of a Work zone or Construction site generally show a person using a shovel. Slang use: Shovel: 1965-1980 Harley Davidson Engine Design called so by the "Shovel" shaped rocker boxes on the engine heads. Also called Shovelhead Engines.
