How to Use shovelful in a Sentence

shovelful

noun

• Set the Posts The drill: Throw a shovelful of gravel in the bottom of each hole.
  — Ryan D'agostino, Popular Mechanics, 24 May 2017
• The drill: Throw a shovelful of gravel in the bottom of each hole.
  — Ryan D'agostino, Popular Mechanics, 6 Mar. 2021
• Loosen the soil to 12 inches deep and add a shovelful of compost.
  — The Editors, Good Housekeeping, 27 July 2018
• What lay on the pillow was a charnel-house, a heap of pus and blood, a shovelful of putrid flesh.
  — Namwali Serpell, The New York Review of Books, 6 July 2022
• Williams, dressed all in white, was granted the honor of turning over the first shovelful of dirt.
  — Hanna Raskin, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Mar. 2022
• Put in a shovelful of good compost, or compost mixed with aged manure or worm castings.
  — Pam Peirce, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 Apr. 2021
• Not a single shovelful has been turned on this stretch between the Victory neighborhood and the Design District.
  — Dallas News, 28 Oct. 2022
• As a powerful fire retardant, it was loaded into homes and consumer goods by the shovelful.
  — Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 23 Oct. 2020
• Glancing around, the solo miners and sluice-filling duos up and down the river seemed intent on extracting the most from every shovelful.
  — Peter Reese, Popular Mechanics, 27 Aug. 2020
• Or to divide your pile into wheelbarrow loads, or to break it down by the shovelful, sending each one to a unique, carefully chosen destination.
  — Quanta Magazine, 1 Aug. 2018
• Members of the crew gingerly sifted through the rubble, pouring shovelfuls of debris through fine grates before discarding the rest into piles ringing the foundation of the home.
  — Sam Gross, USA TODAY, 15 Oct. 2017
• The Hurricanes' historic impact on the draft that began in 1995 and ended, ironically, the same year Alabama coach Nick Saban began sending first-rounders to the draft by the shovelful, isn't to be discounted.
  — Chase Goodbread, USA TODAY, 1 May 2022
• Safety netting surrounded a large live oak on the property, not far from where Stimpson and others tossed their ceremonial shovelfuls of dirt.
  — Lawrence Specker | [e-mail], AL.com, 18 May 2017
• After bringing up only a few shovelfuls of silver spoons and gold coins, Lawes quickly retreated and called the police and the local archaeological society.
  — Lorraine Boissoneault, Smithsonian, 9 Jan. 2018

Last Updated: 27 Oct 2024