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scythe

[sahyth]
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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.
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verb (used with object), scythed, scyth·ing.
  1. to cut or mow with a scythe.
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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

Examples from the Web for scything

Historical Examples

  • The scything had begun, and she took off her pince-nez to watch it.

    Howards End

    E. M. Forster

  • The gardener was scything the grass between the trees, whistling softly to himself.

    Notwithstanding

    Mary Cholmondeley

  • Peasants everywhere are scything weeds and burning them in smoking heaps.

  • And the love-songs of the wood-pigeons never ceased, nor the faint swish of scything.

    The Dark Flower

    John Galsworthy

  • Everyone, including Mrs Dinkman, seemed convinced that scything was the solution.

British Dictionary definitions for scything

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
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verb
  1. (tr) to cut (grass, etc) with a scythe
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Derived Formsscythelike, adjective

Word Origin

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 scything

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.

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scythe

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper