scissors

[siz-erz]

noun

1. (used with a singular or plural verb),  a cutting instrument for paper, cloth, etc., consisting of two blades, each having a ring-shaped handle, that are so pivoted together that their sharp edges work one against the other (often used withpair of ).

2. (used with a singular verb),  any of several feats in which the legs execute a scissorlike motion.

3. (used with a singular verb),  a hold secured by clasping the legs around the body or head of the opponent.

scissors

/ ˈsɪzəz /

plural noun

1. Also called: pair of scissors. a cutting instrument used for cloth, hair, etc, having two crossed pivoted blades that cut by a shearing action, with ring-shaped handles at one end

2. a wrestling hold in which a wrestler wraps his legs round his opponent's body or head, locks his feet together, and squeezes

3. any gymnastic or athletic feat in which the legs cross and uncross in a scissor-like movement

4. athletics a technique in high-jumping, now little used, in which the legs perform a scissor-like movement in clearing the bar

Other Word Forms

• scissor-like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of scissors¹

1350–1400; Middle English cisoures, sisoures < Middle French cisoires < Medieval Latin *cīsōria, plural of Late Latin cīsōrium cutting tool ( chisel ); current spelling by association with Latin scindere to cut (past participle scīssus ), Medieval Latin scīssor tailor

Word History and Origins

Origin of scissors¹

C14 sisoures, from Old French cisoires, from Vulgar Latin cīsōria (unattested), ultimately from Latin caedere to cut; see _chisel

Example Sentences

“In for a kopek, in for a ruble,” she told herself as she sliced away at it with a pair of scissors.

Read more on Literature

With Miss Mortimer’s permission, they used scissors to cut eyeholes in some extra sheets they found.

Read more on Literature

He approached the draft version of “The Waste Land” by Eliot with a pair of scissors, and returned with modernism’s emblem.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"The way we use a pair of scissors is quite mind-blowing when you think about it," Mr Walker says.

Read more on BBC

Transform boundaries -- the faults where plates slide past each other -- act like natural scissors, slicing across the plate and isolating fragments that form new microplates while subduction continues nearby.

Read more on Science Daily