hod

A hod is a tool for carrying heavy building materials by hand. In its usual sense, it is a trough or box, often V-shaped, fixed to a long pole and carried over the shoulder. Bricklayers and other building workers use it to move bricks, mortar, rubble, or stone around a site, especially where materials have to be taken up ladders or across scaffolding. The design helps one person carry a load that would be awkward to hold in the arms.

The word also appears in the phrase "coal hod," which means a metal container used to carry coal to a stove or fireplace. That use is older and is still found in historical writing or when people talk about traditional household tools. In both building and household use, the central idea is the same: a sturdy container for moving heavy material.

The word is mostly literal, not a common everyday metaphor. If it is used figuratively, the image is usually of hard physical work or of carrying a burden for practical support. Most of the time, though, when you see "hod," it refers either to the shoulder-carried builder's container or to a coal scuttle.