cold chisel

A narrow chisel, made of hardened, tempered steel, used for cutting stone etc.

Noun

  1. A narrow chisel, made of hardened, tempered steel, used for cutting stone etc.
    • Meanwhile, Macpherson stood just outside the door, holding a cold chisel which he had taken from a dungaree pocket […] and there Mr. Willison found him. - 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 2, in Well Tackled!:

Origin

So called because it was used for cutting cold metal, as distinguished from a blacksmith's chisel for cutting hot iron.

Forms

cold chisels