scabbard
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of scabbard
1250–1300; Middle English scalburde, scauberge (compare Anglo-French escauberz, escauberge, Medieval Latin escauberca ) ≪ dissimilated variant of Old High German *skārberga sword-protection. See shear, harbor
Explanation
A scabbard is a sheath for a sword, dagger, or other type of knife. Some cooks wear their French knives in a scabbard so they'll be ready to chop no matter where they are in the kitchen. You’ve probably seen a scabbard in an older movie. The hero sheaths his sword in a long wooden, metal or leather scabbard hanging from his belt. The origins of the word, however, are not that manly. Scabbard comes from an old Germanic compound meaning "blade protector."
Vocabulary lists containing scabbard
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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.
Flashing his club as a sword, he targeted the hole as the bull and completed the routine by wiping the imagined blood off the blade and returning it to an invisible scabbard with a flourish.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 9, 2024
She carried the sword without its scabbard for the rest of the ceremony.
From BBC • May 6, 2023
Oftentimes, a kirpan is blunt and even sewn into its sheath or scabbard.
From Washington Times • Sep. 27, 2022
Beyond is a gallery that recounts Tut’s life, as told by the artifacts in his burial place, such as a knife and scabbard, a ceremonial staff with a curved head, and pottery embellished with hieroglyphics.
From Washington Post • Jun. 23, 2022
Jon did not think the shadowcats would attack living men, not unless they were starving, but he loosened Longclaw in its scabbard even so.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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.
