CHISEL, a sharp-edged tool for cutting metal, wood or stone.
There are numerous varieties of --- - - - chisels used in different trades; the carpenter's chisel is wooden handled with a straight edge, transverse to the axis and bevelled on one side; stone masons' chisels are bevelled on both sides, and others have oblique concave or convex edges. A chisel with a semicircular blade is called a "gouge." The tool is worked either by hand-pressure or by blows from a hammer or mallet. The "cold chisel" has a steel edge, highly tempered to cut unheated metal. The derivation is from O.Fr. cisel, modern ciseau, late Lat. cisellum, a cutting tool, from caedere, to cut. (See Toot-)