froe

An L-shaped hand tool, with a long straight blade set in line with the handle, for splitting wood along the grain. The blade, which has to be wider than the piece of wood, is placed on the end grain where the split is to begin, then hammered in. The split is extended by tapping the protruding part of the blade as necessary and working the blade from side to side, levered by the handle.

This definition is abridged from A – Z of tree terms: A companion to British arboriculture.
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