English Dictionary: sickle | by the DICT Development Group |
3 results for sickle | |
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
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From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
Sickle \Sic"kle\, n. [OE. sikel, AS. sicol; akin to D. sikkel, G. sichel, OHG. sihhila, Dan. segel, segl, L. secula, fr. secare to cut; or perhaps from L. secula. See {Saw} a cutting instrument.] 1. A reaping instrument consisting of a steel blade curved into the form of a hook, and having a handle fitted on a tang. The sickle has one side of the blade notched, so as always to sharpen with a serrated edge. Cf. {Reaping hook}, under {Reap}. When corn has once felt the sickle, it has no more benefit from the sunshine. --Shak. 2. (Astron.) A group of stars in the constellation Leo. See Illust. of {Leo}. {Sickle pod} (Bot.), a kind of rock cress ({Arabis Canadensis}) having very long curved pods. | |
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]: | |
Sickle of the Egyptians resembled that in modern use. The ears of corn were cut with it near the top of the straw. There was also a sickle used for warlike purposes, more correctly, however, called a pruning-hook (Deut. 16:9; Jer. 50:16, marg., "scythe;" Joel 3:13; Mark 4:29). |