sword

[sawrd, sohrd]

noun

1. a weapon having various forms but consisting typically of a long, straight or slightly curved blade, sharp-edged on one or both sides, with one end pointed and the other fixed in a hilt or handle.

2. this weapon as the symbol of military power, punitive justice, authority, etc..

   The pen is mightier than the sword.

3. a cause of death or destruction.

4. war, combat, slaughter, or violence, especially military force or aggression.

   to perish by the sword.

5. Military.,  Sword. the code name for one of the five D-Day invasion beaches on France's Normandy coast, assaulted by British forces.

sword

/ sɔːd /

noun

1. a thrusting, striking, or cutting weapon with a long blade having one or two cutting edges, a hilt, and usually a crosspiece or guard

2. such a weapon worn on ceremonial occasions as a symbol of authority

3. something resembling a sword, such as the snout of a swordfish

4. to argue or fight

5. 1. violence or power, esp military power

   2. death; destruction

      to put to the sword

Other Word Forms

• swordless adjective
• swordlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sword¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English sweord; cognate with Dutch zwaard, German Schwert, Old Norse sverth

Word History and Origins

Origin of sword¹

Old English sweord; related to Old Saxon swerd, Old Norse sverth, Old High German swert

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. at swords' points, mutually antagonistic or hostile; opposed.

   Father and son are constantly at swords' point.

2. put to the sword, to slay; execute.

   The entire population of the town was put to the sword.

3. cross swords,

   1. to engage in combat; fight.

   2. to disagree violently; argue.

      The board members crossed swords in the selection of a president.

More idioms and phrases containing sword

• at sword's point
• cross swords

Example Sentences

The types of knives found included machetes, pen knives, flick knives, butterfly knives and swords.

Read more on BBC

But football is “violent chess. That is gladiators without swords. That is dangerous. The whole season, I am locked in on what that man is doing on the field.”

Read more on Salon

"I'm not going to fall on the sword and not take the government money," he said.

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A striking 1970s poster from Cesar Chavez’s Farm Worker Press features Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata — rifle in one hand, sword in the other — reimagined as a mascot for California’s United Farm Workers.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"Apparently, they believed I could no longer be trusted with confidential information," Arrington told the outlet, saying the confidential information was related to the sword dispute and an unrelated matter.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• blade 
• dagger 
• weapon