Hodding

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Transporting bricks or mortar on the shoulder using a hod, the V-shaped trough used by builders and bricklayers
2. Carrying building materials in a hod, a tray on a long handle that labourers balance on their shoulder
3. Moving bricks or mortar about a construction site with a hod, the open box carried up ladders or scaffolding

Etymology: Hod, the trough a bricklayer carries mortar on, is said to have a Middle English origin in a verb meaning to shake or jerk up and down. The verb survives in Scots and Northern English as "hotch," which means to jog, bob or jerk, and the same family of words also gave the French "hocher," to nod the head. The trough looks like a tool of stillness, but its name seems to describe the bouncing motion of a load carried on the shoulder. "Hodding" is the present participle of "hod," so it names the act of carrying mortar or bricks in a hod. The verb itself tends to be used of carrying loads in that way, and the root sense of jolting or bobbing lies behind it.