n. & v.
--n. a long-handled tool with a thin metal blade, used for weeding etc.
--v. (hoes, hoed, hoeing)
1. tr. weed (crops); loosen (earth); dig up or cut down with a hoe.
2 intr. use a hoe.
Phrases and idioms:
hoe-cake US a coarse cake of maize flour orig. baked on the blade of a hoe. hoe in Austral. & NZ sl. eat eagerly. hoe into Austral. & NZ sl. attack (food, a person, a task).
Derivatives:
hoer n.
Etymology: ME howe f. OF houe f. Gmc