noun
A farming tool used for tilling soil, weeding, and shaping rows. Common in agricultural contexts.
畑を鍬で耕す。
I till the field with a hoe.
祖母は毎朝、鍬を持って畑に出かける。
Every morning, my grandmother goes out to the field with a hoe.
A spade or plow, used for turning over soil, while 鍬 is a hoe used for breaking up and shaping soil.
The kanji 鍬 is a phono-semantic compound: 金 (metal) + 秋 (autumn, phonetic). The reading くわ is native Japanese, and the exact derivation is uncertain.