A pick is a tool used for manual labour which consists of a hard spike attached perpendicular to a handle. A modern hammer is directly descended from ancient hand tools A tool is a device that provides a mechanical or mental advantage in accomplishing a task. ...

The spike, commonly made of metal, may curve slightly, and often has a counter-weight to improve ease of use. The stronger the spike, the more effectively the tool can function. Hot metal work from a blacksmith In chemistry, a metal (Greek: Metallon) is an element that readily forms ions (cations) and has metallic bonds, and metals are sometimes described as a lattice of positive ions (cations) in a cloud of electrons. ...

A pick is often used to break up hard or rocky surfaces. The momentum given by swinging the pick, combined with the very small area of impact, magnifies the labourer's ability to pierce the surface. Rocking the embedded spike about and removing it can then break up the surface.

Originally used as agricultural tools as far back as prehistoric cultures, picks have also served for tasks ranging from mining to warfare. The design has also evolved into other tools such as the plough and the mattock. Prehistory (Greek words προ = before and ιστορία = history) is the period of human history prior to the advent of writing (which marks the beginning of recorded history). ... The El Chino Mine located near Silver City, New Mexico is an open-pit copper mine Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually (but not always) from an ore body, vein, or (coal) seam. ... For other uses of War, see War (disambiguation). ... A farmer works the land in the traditional way with a horse and plough The plough (American spelling: plow) is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. ... A mattock is an agricultural tool similar to a mining pick. ...

Compare with icepick. Icepick. ...