scabbard
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
Other Word Forms
- scabbardless adjective
- unscabbard verb (used with object)
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
The sword is in a scabbard covered with 2,600 pearls and the ceremony is a symbolic show of mutual respect between two historical powerbases, the monarchy and the City of London.
From BBC • Oct. 18, 2023
Oftentimes, a kirpan is blunt and even sewn into its sheath or scabbard.
From Washington Times • Sep. 27, 2022
The remains of the ancient warrior dubbed the “Marlow Warlord,” were found in a hilltop burial site alongside an array of weapons, including a sword in a decorated scabbard and spears.
From Fox News • Oct. 6, 2020
Some of the light seemed to go out of the world when Stannis slid his sword back into its scabbard.
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.
