double-edged
Americanadjective
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having two cutting edges, as a razor blade.
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capable of acting two ways or having opposite effects.
a double-edged argument.
adjective
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acting in two ways; having a dual effect
a double-edged law
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(of a remark, argument, etc) having two possible interpretations, esp applicable both for and against or being really malicious though apparently innocuous
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(of a sword, knife, etc) having a cutting edge on either side of the blade
Etymology
Origin of double-edged
First recorded in 1545–55
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
AI enters a culture already sliced and diced by the double-edged sword of digital technology.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
“Dating the boss is a double-edged sword,” she says.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 28, 2026
"It's a double-edged sword," said Sibylle Treiblmaier, outside the house in the town of Braunau am Inn on the border with Germany.
From Barron's • Feb. 21, 2026
Popularity on Wall Street is a double-edged sword.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 16, 2026
With a long-handled, double-edged axe, he split fence rails from massive cedar logs that washed down the Dungeness in the spring.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
