earth auger

An auger is a tool used for drilling holes. In carpentry, it resembles a corkscrew and is used with a carpenter's brace to drill holes in wood. These wood augers have a screw to center the bit, spurs to score the hole's circumference, and cutting edges to remove material. The twist design carries shavings away.1

Larger augers are used to bore holes in the earth for purposes like setting fence posts or telephone poles. They can also be used in surface coal mining to extract coal seams. The simplest rotary drill is the earth auger, which is hand-operated and similar to a wood auger. It's used for drilling in soft earth and attaches to a shaft, with additional sections added as the hole deepens. Rotary drilling, in general, involves a rotating drill bit that chips away at the ground.123