scythe
Americannoun
-
scythes
plural
verb (used with object)
-
scythes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
scythed,
past participle, past
-
scything
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
scythesimple
-
scythessimple
-
have scythedperfect
-
has scythedperfect
-
am scythingprogressive
-
are scythingprogressive
-
is scythingprogressive
-
have been scythingperfect progressive
-
has been scythingperfect progressive
Past
-
scythedsimple
-
had scythedperfect
-
was scythingprogressive
-
were scythingprogressive
-
had been scythingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scythe
before 900; Middle English sith, Old English sīthe, earlier sigdi; cognate with Old Norse sigthr; spelling sc by pseudoetymological association with Latin scindere to cut or with scissors
Explanation
A scythe is a sharp, curved blade used for mowing or reaping. While farmers use it to cut plants, the grim reaper uses it to, well, scare you to death. In Old English, scythe was spelled siðe. Since there is no longer an ð in modern English, scythe became the accepted form of the word in the early 15th century. It drew its sc- start from the Latin scissor, meaning “carver, cutter.” Farmers use these tools to slice and trim grass and other plant stalks. Napoleon Bonaparte once noted that “Occupation is the scythe of time,” meaning that work mows down or diminishes time.
Vocabulary lists containing scythe
The Lightning Thief
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A Long Walk to Water
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Esperanza Rising
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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.
See Examples For:
Acme was filmed right as the steeply indebted Warner Bros. was merging with Zaslav’s Discovery Inc.; it then fell prey to the new CEO’s scythe.
From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026
At the center of it all is Brent Charles’ sinewy Caius Martius Coriolanus, who runs through the play like a human scythe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
He also cut the hay at the end of summer, initially trying with a scythe - Poldark-style - but ultimately finding a small tractor does the trick in a less backbreaking way.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2025
She quickly wields her talent for sizing up men like a scythe, cutting him off at the knees, or maybe a few inches higher, before he can further ruin her solace.
From Salon ● Feb. 27, 2023
A whole coconut apiece too, in which my husband nicked a hole with his scythe for me so that I might drink the dear milk.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
Monumental scythes through what will feel like a small town come race day.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
Industries of textiles, or metalworkers making nails and scythes, were shaped like "factories without machines spread out over hundreds of households" according to Shaw-Taylor -- and increasingly produced goods for international markets.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 4, 2024
Thanksgiving holiday scythes volumes later but there was plenty to keep them busy while they did it.
From Reuters ● Nov. 23, 2023
Mammoths sometimes turn up in farmers’ fields, their tusks curved like scythes abandoned in the dirt.
From New York Times ● Jan. 31, 2023
It never occurred to Citra that people would come out to see scythes arriving at conclave, but then, all celebrity events drew onlookers, so why not a gathering of scythes?
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
Then in early September, the Houthis scythed through the Red Sea port of Mokha, along with Dhubab, Bab el-Mandeb and Perim Island.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
Girona ended the game with 10 men when Roca scythed down Yamal to cut short a desperate Barca attack deep in stoppage time.
From Barron's ● Feb. 16, 2026
Nothing could have provided a more suitable host than an area of prairie where native grasses had been scythed away and the ground torn up by metal ploughshares and the hooves of a farmer’s horses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025
South African fly-half De Beer produce a searing early break, and with Bath failing to deal with his chip-kick, the ball was moved to Adams who scythed through to the line to open the scoring.
From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2023
The long grass had to be scythed and hoed under.
From "A Long Walk to Water" by Linda Sue Park
An occasional scything wind flapped the flags flying at half-staff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2025
Wales restored the advantage almost immediately with Watkin scything through the visitors' defence before finding scrum-half Williams who cantered over.
From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2024
Thanksgiving holiday scything volumes but there was plenty to keep them busy while they did it.
From Reuters ● Nov. 23, 2023
The school has been without a gym since Hurricane Laura made landfall in August 2020 with 150-mile-an-hour winds and a tidal surge that reached 17 feet before scything through the state’s western and central parishes.
From New York Times ● Mar. 8, 2022
During those four weeks in Carthage, McCandless worked hard, doing dirty, tedious jobs that nobody else wanted to tackle: mucking out warehouses, exterminating vermin, painting, scything weeds.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
