SWORD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sword mean? 

• SWORD (noun)
  The noun SWORD has 1 sense:

1. a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard

  Familiarity information: SWORD used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SWORD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

blade; brand; steel; sword

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

arm; weapon; weapon system (any instrument or instrumentality used in fighting or hunting)

Meronyms (parts of "sword"):

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

foible (the weaker part of a sword's blade from the forte to the tip)

forte (the stronger part of a sword blade between the hilt and the foible)

haft; helve (the handle of a weapon or tool)

hilt (the handle of a sword or dagger)

peak; point; tip (a V shape)

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

backsword (a sword with only one cutting edge)

broadsword (a sword with a broad blade and (usually) two cutting edges; used to cut rather than stab)

cavalry sword; saber; sabre (a stout sword with a curved blade and thick back)

cutlas; cutlass (a short heavy curved sword with one edge; formerly used by sailors)

falchion (a short broad slightly convex medieval sword with a sharp point)

fencing sword (a sword used in the sport of fencing)

rapier; tuck (a straight sword with a narrow blade and two edges)

Instance hyponyms:

Excalibur (the legendary sword of King Arthur)

 Context examples 

“But you,” said Alleyne, “there have been changes with you also. Why should not the workman carry his tools? Where are bow and sword and cap—and why so warlike, John?”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The cloak is very well, said he: now give me the sword.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

I told Em'ly I adored her, and that unless she confessed she adored me I should be reduced to the necessity of killing myself with a sword.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Once on a time, a knight went out into the world to seek his fortune, for he had nothing but his sword and his shield.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Who more gladly than we throughout the Four Nations received the 'bloody sword,' or at its warlike call flocked quicker to the standard of the King?

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I have seen this whole body of horse, upon a word of command, draw their swords at once, and brandish them in the air.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Hear him not; call on the names of William, Justine, Clerval, Elizabeth, my father, and of the wretched Victor, and thrust your sword into his heart.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

There were no more masters of the sword.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

TOP2-DPCs are most potently formed by pharmaceutical drugs that humans exploit to eradicate cancer cells, making TOP2-DPCs double-edged swords.

(DNA damage caused by cancer treatment reversed by ZATT protein, National Institutes of Health)

However, wretch as he was, he was still living under the shield of British law, and I have no doubt, Inspector, that you will see that, though that shield may fail to guard, the sword of justice is still there to avenge.

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