SCISSORS

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does scissors mean? 

• SCISSORS (noun)
  The noun SCISSORS has 3 senses:

1. an edge tool having two crossed pivoting blades

2. a wrestling hold in which you wrap your legs around the opponents body or head and put your feet together and squeeze

3. a gymnastic exercise performed on the pommel horse when the gymnast moves his legs as the blades of scissors move

  Familiarity information: SCISSORS used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SCISSORS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An edge tool having two crossed pivoting blades

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

pair of scissors; scissors

Hypernyms ("scissors" is a kind of...):

compound lever (a pair of levers hinged at the fulcrum)

edge tool (any cutting tool with a sharp cutting edge (as a chisel or knife or plane or gouge))

Meronyms (parts of "scissors"):

blade (the flat part of a tool or weapon that (usually) has a cutting edge)

Domain usage:

plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "scissors"):

clipper (scissors for cutting hair or finger nails (often used in the plural))

shears (large scissors with strong blades)

snuffers (scissors for cropping and holding the snuff of a candlewick)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A wrestling hold in which you wrap your legs around the opponents body or head and put your feet together and squeeze

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

scissor grip; scissor hold; scissors; scissors grip; scissors hold

Hypernyms ("scissors" is a kind of...):

wrestling hold (a hold used in the sport of wrestling)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A gymnastic exercise performed on the pommel horse when the gymnast moves his legs as the blades of scissors move

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("scissors" is a kind of...):

gymnastic exercise ((gymnastics) an exercise designed to develop and display strength and agility and balance (usually performed with or on some gymnastic apparatus))

 Context examples 

Don’t be impatient, said Snow-white, I will help you, and she pulled her scissors out of her pocket, and cut off the end of the beard.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

They may also have trouble with tasks such as writing or using scissors.

(Cerebral Palsy, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

The bundle was sewn together, and the doctor had to get out his instrument case and cut the stitches with his medical scissors.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The scissors were bent nail scissors.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You have also, no doubt, remarked that Miss Cushing has cut the cord with a scissors, as can be seen by the double fray on each side.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The lens discloses a large number of hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She saw their sashes untied, their hair pulled about their ears, their work-bags searched, and their knives and scissors stolen away, and felt no doubt of its being a reciprocal enjoyment.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

“Oh! And that's all about it, is it?” she exclaimed, trimming his whiskers with a little restless pair of scissors, that went glancing round his head in all directions.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

"He will sit poring over his book, and not know when a person speaks to him, or when one drops one's scissors, or anything that happens. Do you think Lady Russell would like that?"

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Long did the hours seem while I waited the departure of the company, and listened for the sound of Bessie's step on the stairs: sometimes she would come up in the interval to seek her thimble or her scissors, or perhaps to bring me something by way of supper—a bun or a cheese-cake—then she would sit on the bed while I ate it, and when I had finished, she would tuck the clothes round me, and twice she kissed me, and said, Good night, Miss Jane.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)