How to Use trowel in a Sentence

trowel

noun
  • What defines our species is not the hammer or the trowel but the nail and the grout.
    Kim Tingley, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2017
  • Use a weeder with a forked end or a trowel to help get the roots out.
    Tim Johnson, chicagotribune.com, 26 May 2017
  • Use a trowel to measure a circle in the earth that's roughly 1 1/2 times the size of the plant.
    Emma Bazilian, House Beautiful, 23 Aug. 2019
  • Under the daughter plant, use a trowel to dig a hole big enough to bury one of the pots in.
    Sheryl Geerts, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 Oct. 2022
  • Just be careful so your trowel doesn't catch and pull the mesh or clip the cable.
    Brett Martin, Popular Mechanics, 26 Oct. 2017
  • As with a trowel, a shovel’s weak point is the attachment of the blade to the handle.
    Beth Botts, chicagotribune.com, 6 Dec. 2020
  • The two use a trowel to scrape up rock and dirt, and then a small brush to dust off the pieces removed from the hole that’s been dug there.
    Elena Bruess, San Antonio Express-News, 2 May 2022
  • Max gave us trowels and showed us how to grab a clump and carefully dig out the bulbs.
    Sarah Theeboom, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 May 2017
  • His pail of sticky cement sat next to him, and a trowel in his right hand was dripping on the floor.
    BostonGlobe.com, 10 Sep. 2021
  • Use a soil probe or a trowel to make sure the roots are receiving the right amount of water.
    Debbie Arrington, sacbee, 9 Feb. 2018
  • With a hori hori or trowel, loosen the plant from the soil and gently lift it out without breaking the roots.
    Karen Hugg, Washington Post, 28 Sep. 2023
  • The trowel feels heavier this year for others as well, who chimed in.
    Lindsay Crudele, BostonGlobe.com, 21 June 2022
  • Today, trowels of all kinds sit by large pots around the garden of her new house.
    Joan Juliet Buck, HWD, 22 Sep. 2017
  • Firmly tap the bottom of the pot with a trowel handle and squeeze the sides of the pot to loosen the root ball if necessary.
    Viveka Neveln, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Oct. 2022
  • Once your bales are ready, dig out holes about six inches deep in the bales with a trowel or small tree saw.
    Arricca Elin Sansone, Country Living, 30 Jan. 2020
  • Use trowel to sweep the loose dirt back into the hole, packing it in tight so that the plant can stand tall and straight on its own.
    Jasmin Perez, Sunset Magazine, 5 May 2020
  • Like if you were handed a trowel and asked to move a mound of dirt that a backhoe just dumped at your feet.
    Adrienne Donica, Popular Mechanics, 12 Oct. 2020
  • Dig a 6- to 8-inch-deep hole in the ground with a small, triangular trowel.
    The Salt Lake Tribune, 21 Sep. 2021
  • Comb over the adhesive with the trowel's notched edge to create ridges.
    Jessica Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 22 Sep. 2022
  • Take your sharp trowel and stick it into the top of a straw bale, then move it back and forth to make a spot for your seed or seedling.
    Selena Barrientos, House Beautiful, 22 July 2019
  • Step 6: Mix the concrete and apply a ½- to 1-inch layer to the hull using trowels, floats, and your hands.
    Jim Wilde, Popular Mechanics, 2 Aug. 2017
  • Each person got a bucket, a brush, a trowel, a thin metal pick and a pad to sit on.
    Jennifer Billock, Smithsonian, 25 Sep. 2019
  • Having a sturdy trowel can be a huge help with that last one.
    Popsci Commerce Team, Popular Science, 20 Jan. 2021
  • Don’t forget to bring a trowel strong enough to dig a cathole through Vermont’s rocky soil, too.
    Kristin Smith, Outside Online, 31 Aug. 2022
  • Killing a cutworm with a trowel or farmer’s knife (Hori-Hori) will save woe in terms of labor and time.
    Margaret Lauterbach, idahostatesman, 17 Apr. 2018
  • Use a bulb trowel or bulb planter, marked with inches, to help in digging to the correct depth.
    Jodi Bay, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Sep. 2021
  • The push toy comes with a hand rake and trowel that can be placed in the wheelbarrow's built-in storage area when not in use.
    Rachel Murphy, USA TODAY, 14 Apr. 2020
  • Use a hand trowel to gently mix them into the top few inches of soil.
    Nan Sterman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Apr. 2023
  • Mix in to the top few inches using a hand trowel; do not rototill.
    Nan Sterman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 May 2023
  • The bluestone settled nicely, and just a couple of taps with the butt of the trowel handle got it dead on.
    Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, 10 Apr. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'trowel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: