noun
scythe
SYTH
noun
1
A hand tool with a long curved blade on a long handle, used for cutting grass or grain.
"The farmer swung his scythe rhythmically across the field of wheat."
verb
1
To cut grass or grain using a scythe, or to cut through something in a similar sweeping motion.
"He scythed the overgrown meadow before the fete."
"The car scythed through the crowd of parked bicycles."
How to Use Scythe
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA long-handled curved-blade tool for mowing, often pictured being carried by the personification of Death ("the Grim Reaper").
Common pairings
wield a scythe
scythe through
Word Forms
scythed past tense, scythes plural, scythes singular
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Etymology
From Old English sithe/sigthe ("sickle"), related to the Proto-Germanic root for "saw." The spelling with a silent "c" was added later by mistaken association with Latin scindere ("to cut").