Rototills

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. A machine designed for breaking up and aerating soil through the use of rotating blades or tines
2. This device is utilized in agriculture to prepare and cultivate land for planting crops
3. It functions by digging into the ground, mixing the soil, and improving its texture for better seed growth

Etymology: The tool's name is built from two parts. "Till" comes from Old English "tilian," which meant "to strive for" or "to aim at" before it came to mean working the soil. Farmers were, in effect, striving toward a crop. The "roto" part comes from "rotary," describing the spinning tines that do the digging. The machine's name was a trademark before it became a common noun. Gardeners and farmers used the trade name so widely that it spread into general use, and it was later shortened into a verb. The verb is a back-formation, made by removing the agent ending "-er" from the noun, which is why "rototill" sounds like a verb already in use.

Synonyms: cultivates, tills, plows, hoes, works

Antonyms: neglects, abandons