bêche

The French word "bêche" refers to a garden tool known in English as a spade or digging fork. It is used specifically for digging, turning soil, or breaking up earth in gardening or agriculture.

Meaning and use:

• Bêche is primarily a sturdy tool with a flat, rectangular blade attached to a long handle.
• It allows gardeners or farmers to dig into the ground, separate soil, or move dirt.
• It is bigger and heavier compared to a simple trowel and designed for more substantial digging work.

Related words and differences:

• Pelle: Means shovel. Usually has a broader, scoop-like blade, used for lifting and moving loose materials like gravel, sand, or snow rather than turning soil.
• Binette: A type of hoe; a tool with a flat blade used to cultivate soil and remove weeds close to the surface, different from digging.
• Truelle: Means trowel, a small handheld tool used for finer gardening tasks, such as planting or spreading mortar.

Summary:

• Bêche = spade, used for digging and turning soil.
• Different from pelle (shovel) for scooping and holding materials.
• More robust than smaller tools like truelle or binette.

It's a fundamental tool in gardening and agriculture.