# sickle

/ˈsɪkəɫ/ (US) · /sˈɪkəl/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/sickle
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 1. farming tool

noun · CEFR B2

a tool with a short handle and a curved blade used for cutting grass or grain by hand.

For teachers: an agricultural implement consisting of a curved, semicircular blade and a short handle, used for reaping grain or cutting tall grass.

- The farmer used a sharp sickle to cut the tall weeds at the edge of the field.
- Before the advent of mechanical harvesters, laborers spent weeks in the fields using sickles to reap the wheat by hand.

### 2. crescent shape

noun · CEFR C1 · Literary

something that has a curved shape like a crescent moon.

For teachers: an object or celestial body possessing a curved, tapering shape reminiscent of a sickle blade.

- A thin sickle of a moon hung low in the dark sky.
- The poet described the silver sickle of the moon rising above the jagged mountain peaks.

### 3. blood cell deformation

verb · CEFR C2 · Technical

when red blood cells change into a curved shape because of a medical condition.

For teachers: the process by which red blood cells assume an abnormal crescent or sickle shape, typically associated with sickle cell anemia.

- In patients with this disease, the red blood cells begin to sickle when oxygen levels are low.
- The pathology is characterized by the tendency of hemoglobin to polymerize, causing the erythrocytes to sickle and obstruct capillary blood flow.

Usage: The verb is usually intransitive when describing the cells themselves.

## Examples

- The farmer used a sickle to cut the tall weeds.
- Before the invention of modern machinery, workers spent long days in the fields using a sickle to harvest the wheat.
- 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.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.