: an excavating machine having a bucket that is attached to a rigid bar hinged to a boom and that is drawn toward the machine in operation
Examples of backhoe in a Sentence
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Nearby, backhoes scooped up sections of the bridge’s roadbed into a pile that had jagged pieces of rebar hanging off it.
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Justin Jouvenal, Washington Post, 15 Apr. 2024
Crews were likely to be working into the evening as heavy machinery such as a backhoe and industrial vacuum truck were at the scene still surrounded by dozens of police and firefighters.
—The Arizona Republic, 15 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for backhoe 
Justin Jouvenal, Washington Post, 15 Apr. 2024
Crews were likely to be working into the evening as heavy machinery such as a backhoe and industrial vacuum truck were at the scene still surrounded by dozens of police and firefighters.
—The Arizona Republic, 15 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for backhoe
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'backhoe.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Backhoe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/backhoe. Accessed 29 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
backhoe
noun
back·hoe
-ˌhō 
: a large machine that digs into the earth with a metal scoop drawn toward the machine
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