saber

American  

[say-ber] / ˈseɪ bər /

especially British, sabre

noun

• sabers
  plural

1. a heavy, one-edged sword, usually slightly curved, used especially by cavalry.

2. a soldier armed with such a sword.

3. Fencing.

   1. a sword having two cutting edges and a blunt point.

   2. the art or sport of fencing with the saber, with the target being limited to the head, trunk, and arms, and hits being made with the front edge and the upper part of the back edge of the sword and by thrusts.

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verb (used with object)

1. to strike, wound, or kill with a saber.

saber British  

/ ˈseɪbə /

noun

1. the US spelling of sabre

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• saberlike
  adjective
• unsabered
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sabers
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of saber

First recorded in 1670–80; from French sabre, sable, from German Sabel (now Säbel ), earlier sewel, schebel, from Polish szabla; compare Czech šavle, Serbo-Croatian sȁblja, Russian sáblya “sword, saber,” perhaps all ultimately from Hungarian szablya, though derivation and transmission uncertain

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Explanation

A saber is an old fashioned sword with a curved blade. Sabers were used in many historic battles, including the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century. The saber is usually described as a "cavalry sword," or a weapon carried by a soldier on horseback. As guns became more common during wartime, cavalry troops armed with sabers became less and less typical. The word saber comes from the French sabre, "heavy, curved sword," Säbel in German and szablya in Hungarian, from the root szabni, "to cut."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

saber sabers

Those predators included anacondas, saber toothed mammals, flightless "terror birds" and sebecids, a group of land dwelling relatives of crocodylians.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026

Guidance should be fairly balanced given the geopolitical tensions, though Nomura anticipates some saber rattling to help contain inflation expectations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026

Yet at other times he has rattled the nuclear saber.

From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2025

The Eisenhower library has several swords from the president in its collection, including a saber and a sword of honour featured in a current exhibit.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2025

Keeth had led the US men’s saber team to a silver medal in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and was arguably the best US male saber fencer of all time.

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

He told the president he could go even farther than Ronald Reagan, which, in this context, is an interesting statement, since Reagan rattled some sabers initially but actually made the judicious decision to withdraw.

From Salon ● Mar. 10, 2026

Paleontologists still do not know how saber-toothed animals like Smilodon hunted prey without breaking their unwieldy sabers.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 29, 2024

The molecular sabers are unlikely to promote resistance because bacteria cannot easily change the essential cell-wall components that lysins target.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 13, 2023

In “The Crazy Adventures of Don Quixote,” a musical Morán wrote with Radamés Gavé, don’t be surprised to see Cervantes’s 17th-century characters duel with “Star Wars”-style light sabers.

From New York Times ● Aug. 7, 2023

By common consent they were using the spears as sabers now, no longer daring the lethal points.

From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding

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Related Words

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