rapier
Americannoun
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a small sword, especially of the 18th century, having a narrow blade and used for thrusting.
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a longer, heavier sword, especially of the 16th and 17th centuries, having a double-edged blade and used for slashing and thrusting.
noun
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a long narrow two-edged sword with a guarded hilt, used as a thrusting weapon, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries
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a smaller single-edged 18th-century sword, used principally in France
Other Word Forms
- rapier-like adjective
- rapiered adjective
Etymology
Origin of rapier
1545–55; < Middle French ( espee ) rapiere literally, rasping (sword); rape 3
Compare meaning
How does rapier compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
“A broken rapier can push the clutch perfectly,” he explains, demonstrating his technique with an imaginary sword.
From BBC
Schroeder took on the powerful elite with her rapier wit and antics for 24 years, shaking up stodgy government institutions by forcing them to acknowledge that women had a role in government.
From Seattle Times
But only after their rapier hosts punctured them twice in the opening 16 minutes with two goals of ruthless simplicity by Giovanni Simeone.
From BBC
Lydia Millet’s most recent novel was a polished rapier called “A Children’s Bible.”
From Washington Post
It starts out small and thin, like a rapier’s blade, but I push more of the splendor into it, until I’m holding what looks like a massive broadsword.
From Literature
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.
