Adze

An ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with its cutting edge set perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel to it, used since prehistoric times both for smoothing and carving wood and, in a longer-handled form, as a hoe for agriculture and horticulture. The shorter hand adze is swung with one hand for detailed work; the longer foot adze is swung with both hands for more forceful work, its edge striking near ground level. A related tool, the mattock, differs by carrying two blades, one perpendicular and one parallel to the handle.