blade

[ bleyd ]

noun

1. the flat cutting part of a sword, knife, etc.
2. a sword, rapier, or the like.
3. a part of a tool or mechanism which is thin and flat with a tapered edge, used for clearing, wiping, scraping, etc.:

   the blade of a windshield wiper;

   the blade of a bulldozer.

4. the arm of a propeller or other similar rotary mechanism, as an electric fan or turbine.
5. Botany.
   1. the leaf of a plant, especially of a grass or cereal.
   2. the broad part of a leaf, as distinguished from the stalk or petiole.
6. the metal part of an ice skate that comes into contact with the ice.
7. a thin, flat part of something, as of an oar or a bone:

   shoulder blade.

8. a prosthetic lower leg, primarily for athletes, ending in a curved strip of flexible carbon fiber that acts as an ankle and foot, allowing running and jumping.
9. Phonetics.
   1. the foremost and most readily flexible portion of the tongue, including the tip and implying the upper and lower surfaces and edges.
   2. the upper surface of the tongue directly behind the tip, lying beneath the alveolar ridge when the tongue is in a resting position.
10. the elongated hind part of a fowl's single comb.
11. a swordsman.
12. Archaic. a dashing, swaggering, or jaunty young man:

    a gay blade from the nearby city.

blade

/ bleɪd /

noun

1. the part of a sharp weapon, tool, etc, that forms the cutting edge
2. plural hand shears used for shearing sheep
3. the thin flattish part of various tools, implements, etc, as of a propeller, turbine, etc
4. the flattened expanded part of a leaf, sepal, or petal
5. the long narrow leaf of a grass or related plant
6. the striking surface of a bat, club, stick, or oar
7. the metal runner on an ice skate
8. archaeol a long thin flake of flint, possibly used as a tool
9. the upper part of the tongue lying directly behind the tip
10. archaic.
    a dashing or swaggering young man
11. short for shoulder blade
12. a poetic word for a sword swordsman

blade

/ blād /

1. 1. The expanded part of a leaf or petal.
   2. The leaf of grasses and similar plants.
2. A stone tool consisting of a slender, sharp-edged, unserrated flake that is at least twice as long as it is wide. Blade tools were developed late in the stone tool tradition, after core and flake tools, and were probably used especially as knives.

Derived Forms

• ˈbladed, adjective

Other Words From

• blade·less adjective
• mul·ti·blade noun
• un·blade verb (used with object) unbladed unblading

Word History and Origins

Origin of blade¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English blad(e), blaid “leaf, blade (of a plant or sword)”; Old English blæd “blade (of grass or an oar)”; cognate with Dutch blad, Old Norse blath, German Blatt; akin to blow ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of blade¹

Old English blæd ; related to Old Norse blath leaf, Old High German blat , Latin folium leaf

Example Sentences

It comes after an investigation found illegal blades were still available to buy online, a month after they were outlawed.

From BBC

Deputies were called to the home in March 2021 after Ordazarmed himself with a blade and told his sister he was suicidal.

From Los Angeles Times

“People don’t want to be told that crime rates are low when razor blades and hair spray have to be locked up,” Republican strategist Rob Stutzman says.

From Los Angeles Times

The boys were stabbed to death by a group of teenagers with machetes, with blades 42cm long.

From BBC

In August last year, a remotely-piloted prototype was badly damaged when it crashed during testing at Cotswold Airport, after a propeller blade fell off.

From BBC

Related Words

• knife
• sword