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sabre

American  
[sey-ber] / ˈseɪ bər /

noun

Chiefly British.
sabred, sabring

  1. saber.

sabre British  
/ ˈseɪbə /

noun

  1. a stout single-edged cavalry sword, having a curved blade

  2. a sword used in fencing, having a narrow V-shaped blade, a semicircular guard, and a slightly curved hand

  3. a cavalry soldier

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (tr) to injure or kill with a sabre

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of sabre

C17: via French from German (dialect) Sabel, from Middle High German sebel, perhaps from Magyar száblya; compare Russian sablya sabre

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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.

Regardless, the statement amounted to unusual nuclear sabre rattling.

From Barron's • Oct. 30, 2025

Olha Kharlan is one of Ukraine’s biggest Olympic names, a four-time world champion in women’s sabre and a four-time Olympic fencing medallist.

From BBC • Jul. 24, 2024

"Unlocking the secrets of sabre tooth evolution not only enriches our understanding of the Earth's past, but also documents the mechanisms leading to evolutionary convergence," says Professor Valentin Fischer, Director of the EDDyLab at ULiège.

From Science Daily • May 16, 2024

For many years, he has been among the best in the Americas in foil and sabre.

From Seattle Times • May 9, 2024

There are lots of girls carrying all kinds of blades: foil, epee, sabre.

From "Black Brother, Black Brother" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

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.