sickle

[ sik-uh l ]

/ ˈsɪk əl /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR sickle ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an implement for cutting grain, grass, etc., consisting of a curved, hooklike blade mounted in a short handle.

(initial capital letter) Astronomy. a group of stars in the constellation Leo, likened to this implement in formation.

Words nearby sickle

sickening, sicker, sickert, sickie, sickish, sickle, sickle bar, sickle cell, sickle cell anemia, sickle cell c disease, sickle cell disease

Origin of sickle

before 1000; Middle English sikel, Old English sicol; cognate with Dutch zikkel, German Sichel, all ≪ Latin secula, equivalent to sec(āre) to cut + -ula -ule

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for sickle

The communist part is no joke, either—his business card features a Soviet-style hammer and sickle in red.
The Big Story Out of Herzliya Might Be About China and Israeli Drones|Eli Lake|March 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
France's Communist party has undergone a revolution and dropped the hammer and sickle from its membership cards.
France's Communists Sell Out|David Frum|February 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Search online for “Obama” and “communist” or “hammer and sickle” and hundreds of images pop up.
The GOP's Ugly Jokers|John Avlon|August 6, 2009|DAILY BEAST
A new ad campaign paints the president as a communist on health care—complete with hammer and sickle.
The GOP's Ugly Jokers|John Avlon|August 6, 2009|DAILY BEAST

But there was a twist—the hammer and sickle through the “c” in “Obama Care.”
The GOP's Ugly Jokers|John Avlon|August 6, 2009|DAILY BEAST
To avert sickness from a family, hang up a sickle, or iron implement, at the bed head.
Notes & Queries, No. 19, Saturday, March 9, 1850|Various
As the wheat-stalk bends after the stroke of the sickle, Andry bent his head and fell upon the grass without uttering a word.
Russia: Its People and Its Literature|Emilia Pardo Bazán
In the first attempt to use the sickle Terence was so awkward as to fall forward and break the implement into two pieces.
The Boy Slaves|Mayne Reid
In itself the reaping-hook is an enlarged sickle, and the sickle was in use in Roman times, and no man knows how long before that.
Field and Hedgerow|Richard Jefferies
She held the sickle as her sceptre, and a tiara composed of the bearded grain covered her brow.
The Headsman|James Fenimore Cooper

British Dictionary definitions for sickle

sickle

/ (ˈsɪkəl) /

noun

an implement for cutting grass, corn, etc, having a curved blade and a short handle

Word Origin for sickle

Old English sicol, from Latin sēcula; related to secāre to cut

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

Medical definitions for sickle

sickle

[ sĭk′əl ]

v.

To cut with a sickle.

To deform a red blood cell into an abnormal crescent shape.

To assume an abnormal crescent shape. Used of red blood cells.

sickle

noun

Words related to sickle

Words nearby sickle

Origin of sickle

Example sentences from the Web for sickle

British Dictionary definitions for sickle

noun

Word Origin for sickle

Medical definitions for sickle

v.