noun A piece of excavating equipment, either an integral subassembly or an attachment, consisting of a digging bucket or scoop on the end of an articulated arm, drawn backwards to move earth; used in excavator/digger and backhoe tractors.
noun Ellipsis of backhoe tractor: A specialized tractor with the backhoe subassembly. This type of tractor has been superceded by the backhoe loader and trackhoe in most roles.
noun Ellipsis of backhoe loader: A multi-purpose tractor with a front-mounted loading bucket and a rear-mounted digging bucket. The tractor combines a front-end loader/loader (component) and an excavator/digger (component).