† plough-melln.
Obsolete.
A mallet carried on a plough for breaking up large clods of earth. Cf. plough maul n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > ploughing equipment > [noun] > hammer or implement for breaking clods
plough beetlea1325
plough-mella1475
clotting-mall1483
plough maula1500
clotting-beetle1620
clod-mall1794
comminutor1859
a1475 (a1450) Tournam. of Tottenham (Harl.) (1930) 151 (MED) Þayr baners were ful bryȝt, Of an old roten fell; Þe cheuerone, of a plow-mell.
1765–94 T. Percy Reliques (1845) Gloss. Plowmell, a small wooden hammer occasionally fixed to the plow, still used in the North; in the Midland counties in its stead is used a plow-hatchet.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2018).
<
n.a1475