What does hod mean?
A hod is a sturdy open container traditionally used to carry coal, bricks, mortar, and similar building materials. The best-known type is a long-handled trough or carrier used by bricklayers, who would balance a load of bricks or mortar on their shoulder. A worker employed to perform this task is called a hod carrier. In British English, hod can also denote a coal scuttle, and the phrase “a hod of coal” refers both to the container and to the quantity it holds. The related verb means to carry something in or as if in a hod. Although the word sounds old-fashioned, it remains precise and evocative because it names a practical object and, by extension, the traditional labor associated with it. It is especially useful when discussing masonry, historic building trades, or regional vocabulary.
An open container, especially a long-handled carrier used for bricks or mortar; in British usage, it can also mean a coal scuttle. The word may also denote the load carried in one or a worker who carries one.
"He carried a hod of mortar up the scaffolding."
The coal sense is especially associated with British English. “Hod carrier” refers to a worker who carries bricks or mortar.
To carry something in or as if in a hod.
"The workers hodded coal from the cellar."
The verb is less common than the noun and occurs chiefly in literary, historical, or regional usage.
The standard plural is “hods.”
"The worker carried two hods of bricks."
A hod is both a builder's brick carrier and, in British English, a coal scuttle: one word carries everything from mortar to midnight fuel.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does hod come from?
The word is recorded in Middle English and is generally traced through Old French hodde, also written hode, to Medieval Latin hoda. The ultimate origin of the Latin form is uncertain, so the deeper etymology should not be assigned too confidently.
How hod is actually used
The noun is established in both British and American English. The coal sense is especially associated with British usage, while the bricklayer's hod and the verb are more characteristic of construction work and somewhat literary or regional contexts.