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definitions

scythe

[sahyth]
See more synonyms for scythe on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an agricultural implement consisting of a long, curving blade fastened at an angle to a handle, for cutting grass, grain, etc., by hand.
verb (used with object), scythed, scyth·ing.
  1. to cut or mow with a scythe.

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
Related formsscythe·less, adjectivescythe·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for scythe

bayonet, dagger, blade, sword, skewer, machete, sickle, cutter, scalpel, pistol, bomb, gun, missile, cannon, rifle, ammunition, firearm, knife, shotgun, revolver

Examples from the Web for scythe

Contemporary Examples of scythe

Historical Examples of scythe

  • Only one thing could surpass him: the scythe of death which blindly mows the world.

  • There is another ahead of him there, with the head of a scythe inside his smock.

    Micah Clarke

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • The American pioneers had only a sickle or a scythe with which to cut their grain.

    The Age of Invention

    Holland Thompson

  • Close by them a man was preparing to scythe out one of the dell-holes.

    Howards End

    E. M. Forster

  • If the ould Governor's got a tongue like a file, Philip's got a tongue like a scythe—he'll mow them down.

    The Manxman

    Hall Caine

British Dictionary definitions for scythe

scythe

noun
  1. a manual implement for cutting grass, etc, having a long handle held with both hands and a curved sharpened blade that moves in a plane parallel to the ground
verb
  1. (tr) to cut (grass, etc) with a scythe
Derived Formsscythelike, adjective

Word Origin for scythe

Old English sigthe; related to Old Norse sigthr, Old High German segansa
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for scythe
n.

Old English siðe, sigði, from Proto-Germanic *segithoz (cf. Middle Low German segede, Middle Dutch sichte, Old High German segensa, German Sense), from PIE root *sek- "to cut" (see section (n.)). The sc- spelling crept in early 15c., from influence of Latin scissor "carver, cutter" and scindere "to cut." Cf. French scier "saw," a false spelling from sier.

v.

1570s, "use a scythe;" 1590s "to mow;" from scythe (n.). From 1897 as "move with the sweeping motion of a scythe." Related: Scythed; scything.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper