sickle
sickle Lexical Profile
sickle Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A short-handled agricultural tool with a semicircular blade used for cutting grain, lopping, or trimming.
"Before the invention of mechanized reapers, farmers harvested their wheat by hand using a sickle."
Something having the curved shape of a crescent.
"The moon hung as a thin, bright sickle in the evening sky."
• verb
To deform into a crescent shape (especially referring to red blood cells in sickle cell disease).
"When deprived of adequate oxygen, the mutated red blood cells begin to sickle, obstructing flow through the narrow capillaries."
To cut or harvest with a sickle.
"The laborers sickled the tall grass at the edge of the property to clear the fence line."
Word Nuance & Usage
Though both are curved agricultural tools often confused with one another, a sickle is a one-handed tool with a short handle, whereas a scythe is a larger, two-handed tool with a long shaft.
• Rhymes for sickle
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English 'sicol', which is derived from the Latin 'secula' (sickle), tracing back to the Latin verb 'secare', meaning 'to cut'.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.