shoveled

variants or shovelled
past tense of shovel
as in dug
to hollow out or form (something) by removing earth the troops quickly shoveled a trench

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of shoveled But earlier this year, the Navy reservist and his friend shoveled a six-carat diamond from a field in Arkansas where he's found over 300 gems so far. — Laura Turbay, ABC News, 2 Oct. 2026 Moments after an incredibly warm greeting, Quinn shoveled coal into the flames and stuck an iron in the forge. — Sarah Wood González, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Sep. 2026 Meanwhile, two sauna masters shovelled ice infused with fragrant oil onto the rocks and performed an Aufguss, a German ritual in which towels are twirled to spread scented air. — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2026 After all, that is a quite a load – Lacy also caught 29 passes – and some of it could be shoveled off to Michigan State transfer Makhi Frazier. — Tom Layberger, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026 In the absence of heavy equipment, rescue workers, police and volunteers shoveled debris by hand at many sites, looking for survivors. — Marc Ramirez, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2026 Those mounds of soil — not apparent in the photograph — were consistent with digging a hole as dirt is shoveled out and dumped along the edge. — Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 5 July 2026 Quasars are the extremely active supermassive black holes at the heart of some galaxies, furiously feeding on gas that is being shoveled towards their maw, and growing as a result of this voracious feeding. — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 12 June 2026 All that was left of the snow was shoveled into melting mounds at the edges of intersections and crosswalks. — Jourdan Rodrigue, New York Times, 28 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shoveled
Verb
  • Her mother dug her out from under debris and Sasha remained in a coma for 15 days.
    — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Fifteen yards into his route, James dug inside, turned to catch the pass from Zabransky, and took a little jab step upfield as four Oklahoma defenders closed in.
    — Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 3 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • The remains of these servants, or retainers, were first excavated from the funerary complexes at Abydos, eastern Egypt, which date from around 3000 BC, in the 1920s.
    — Jack Guy, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Being mindful of its construction—the resort is five years in the making—each and every stone guests see is the stone found on the peninsula, excavated and repurposed to keep the area's natural materials intact.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Shoveled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shoveled. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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