secateurs

American  

[sek-uh-ter, -tur] / ˈsɛk ə tər, -ˌtɜr /

noun

(used with a singular or plural verb)

1. scissors or shears, especially pruning shears.

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secateurs British  

/ ˈsɛkətəz, ˌsɛkəˈtɜːz /

plural noun

1. a small pair of shears for pruning, having a pair of pivoted handles, sprung so that they are normally open, and usually a single cutting blade that closes against a flat surface

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Etymology

Origin of secateurs

1880–85; < French < Latin sec ( āre ) to cut ( see secant) + French -ateurs (plural) < Latin -ātor -ator

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

secateurs

Items available included secateurs, a builder's trowel and even left-handed playing cards.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

Favorite tool: Corona classic hand pruners, which Huston calls by their British name: secateurs.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2019

They descended upon the fruit like locusts, the sound of their secateurs as sharp as snapping jaws.

From New York Times ● Sep. 20, 2016

The morning of the abduction, Mrs. Allsop—dishevelled in a limp linen shirtdress—was wielding her secateurs up a ladder, pruning the climbing roses.

From The New Yorker ● Jul. 2, 2012

In the midst of it he found Mrs Bosenna, gloved, armed with a pair of secateurs, and engaged in cutting the thorns back to a few ugly inches.

From Hocken and Hunken by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir