ENGLISH
REFERENCE

sickle

n. countable
C2 Proficiency US //ˈsɪkəɫ// UK //sˈɪkəl// sick·le Archaic Literary

n. a tool with a curved metal blade and a short handle. It is used for cutting tall grass or grain by hand.

n. a hand-held agricultural tool with a curved blade, typically used for harvesting grain crops or cutting succulent forage.


SIMPLE

The farmer used a sickle to cut the tall weeds.

CONTEXTUAL

Before the invention of modern machinery, workers spent long days in the fields using a sickle to harvest the wheat.

COMPLEX

The crescent moon hung low in the sky, its sharp silver curve resembling the blade of a sickle resting against the dark velvet of the night.

Origin

From Middle English sikel (also assibilated in sichel), from Old English sicol, siċel, from Proto-West Germanic *sikilu, itself borrowed from Latin sēcula (“sickle”) or sīcīlis (“sickle”). Cognate with Dutch sikkel, German Sichel. Remotely related with English scythe and saw.

Usage

Often used as a symbol of agriculture or manual labor; frequently paired with 'hammer' in historical political contexts.

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