Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US) to perform menial, distasteful tasks.

[1906		U. Sinclair Jungle 35: ‘Worked here [i.e. a slaughterhouse] before?’ ‘No ’stand.’ (Signals and gesticulations on the part of the boss. Vigorous shakes of the head by Jurgis.) ‘Shovel guts?’ ‘No ’stand.’ (More shakes of the head)].
2004		wingnutx at LiveJournal.com 22 June 🌐 I’d rather shovel guts than spend another day on-call.

see pile it higher and deeper under pile v.

to make one’s best efforts, despite overwhelming odds, thus euph. as shovel garbage..

1950		R. Starnes Another Mug for the Bier 49: ‘[E]ven he is smart enough to know he is shoveling garbage against the tide with his pipeline bill’.
1973		L. Shecter On the Pad 139: A lot of the time you’re shoveling shit against the tide. [...] You come in [...] start getting the phone calls; might wind up with thirty-five cases. Now how can you possibly go out and investigate thirty-five cases?
1998		Tucson Weekly 1 Oct. 🌐 I admire a lad with the brass to shovel shit against the tide on a truly epic scale.

1. (US black) to gossip (maliciously) [dirt n. (6)].

1936

A.E. Duckett ‘Truckin ’round Brooklyn’ in N.Y. Age 12 Dec. 7/1: Vivacious Elaine Bain [...] daintily shovels the dirt this week .

2. to take a walk [SAmE dirt, earth].

1954

J. Steinbeck Sweet Thursday (1955) 65: There were footsteps on the pavement. [...] ‘Thought I’d shovel the dirt a little.’.

1. (also shovel up shit) to gossip, esp. maliciously; to talk nonsense [shit n. (4a)].

1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS 474/1: Since c.1935.
1970		in E. Cray Erotic Muse (1992) 58: My old man was a miner, / Worked all day in the pit. / Sometimes he’d shovel up coal dust, / Sometimes he’d shovel up shit.
1986		R. Campbell In La-La Land We Trust (1999) 112: he had to ask the question, the answer to which would probably kick the hell out of the pile of shit Barcaloo was shoveling.
1993		Guardian 17 Apr. 58/1: ‘I was furious [...] I wasn’t going to stand for this garbage [...] they couldn’t shovel that shit to me’.

2. to do an unpleasant job of work [shit n. (3b)].

1962		(con. 1940s) G. Mandel Wax Boom 285: I can’t handle them, sir. I can’t run men in for you, sir. Shovel your own shit, sir.
1977		R. Coover Public Burning (1979) 98: Your buddies are gonna have you shovelin’ shit tomorrow, boy!
1989		(con. 1960s) M. Kingston Tripmaster Monkey 76: He’s the only Chinese-American of his generation not in grad school, he’ll shovel shit.
1999		Guardian 7 Oct. 45/2: ‘I’d rather shovel shit than live off my past’.
2001		S. King Dreamcatcher 252: Get your ass out of there now, or I guarantee that by next week you’ll be shovelling camel-shit in a hot climate where booze is illegal.
2014		Baltimore Sun (MD) 2 Apr. T59/2: ‘Can you shovel shit?’ he growled [...] Sometimes I wish I’d taken the job, but shit shoeveler lacks a future.

to hand over, to pass.

1957

Kerouac letter 7 June in Charters II (1999) 40: He only shoveled up 2 bucks.

(N.Z.) an excl. of dismissal, disbelief.

1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 102/1: shovel it! expression of disbelief, suggesting that bullshit is being shovelled; often accompanied by motion of shovelling imaginary bullshit; eg ‘You expect me to believe that! Ahh ... shovel it!’.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. [as cit. 1988].