sickle
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əlbefore 1000; Middle English sikel, Old English sicol; cognate with Dutch zikkel, German Sichel, all ≪ Latin secula, equivalent to sec(āre) to cut + -ula -ule
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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sickle (ˈsɪkəl) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| an implement for cutting grass, corn, etc, having a curved blade and a short handle | |
| [Old English sicol, from Latin sēcula; related to secāre to cut] | |
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
sickle
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sickle sick·le (sĭk'əl)
v. sick·led, sick·ling, sick·les
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.
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Sickle definition
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).
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sickle
one of the most ancient of harvesting tools, consisting of a metal blade, usually curved, attached to a short wooden handle. The short handle forces the user to harvest in a stooped or squatting position. The longer-handled scythe, the user of which remains upright, evolved from the sickle. Harvesting with a sickle is very slow, but because of its simplicity and low cost, it is still widely used over the world, especially to reap cereals such as wheat and rice and also as a gardening tool.
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