sabre
Americannoun
noun
-
a stout single-edged cavalry sword, having a curved blade
-
a sword used in fencing, having a narrow V-shaped blade, a semicircular guard, and a slightly curved hand
-
a cavalry soldier
verb
Etymology
Origin of sabre
C17: via French from German (dialect) Sabel, from Middle High German sebel, perhaps from Magyar száblya; compare Russian sablya sabre
Compare meaning
How does sabre 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.
See Examples For:
Regardless, the statement amounted to unusual nuclear sabre rattling.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2025
Mr Gilliver moves towards the camera, swooshing his light sabre before disappearing down the trap door.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 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
With a sabre cut, I suppose, and a bandage around his head.
From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway
![]()
The empty sleeve, the absent leg, the sabred face, the bullet-scarred body of the many, told the story of the service they had seen.
From The Black Phalanx African American soldiers in the War of Independence, the War of 1812, and the Civil War by Joseph T. (Joseph Thomas) Wilson
A sabred Procession has nothing for it but to explode, along what streets, alleys, Tuileries Avenues it finds; and disappear.
From The French Revolution by Thomas Carlyle
Many more than a hundred sabred gentlemen pressed round to "do themselves the honor," as they expressed it, of paying Cunningham a compliment.
From Rung Ho! by Talbot Mundy
It was a phrase that sabred the spider-webs of logical refinement, and held them up scornfully on the point.
From The Grey Wig: Stories and Novelettes by Israel Zangwill
The Russian hussars of Ysum were sabred and overthrown at Kelm.
From History of the Expedition to Russia Undertaken by the Emperor Napoleon in the Year 1812 by Philippe-Paul, comte de Ségur
Page 453, line 40, read "sabring" for "sobering."
From History of Kershaw's Brigade by D. Augustus Dickert
If I were to march into Moldavia," a Rumanian was telling me, "against the enemies of Austria, I would have to begin by sabring all the Moldavian peasants, who are crying, 'Down with Austria!'
From The New York Times Current History, A Monthly Magazine The European War, March 1915 by Various
Half a dozen huzzaing and sabring troopers saw the three and shouted to others nearer yet.
From The Long Roll by Mary Johnston
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.