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 began as a dull ache in my left shoulder blade, where it sometimes flared into the scalene muscles along the side of my neck.

From Outside Online

Unlike an airplane, a helicopter can even glide vertically because the blades do not see a vertical descent as truly vertical.

From Popular-Science

A blade steel that prioritizes ease of sharpening will likely be more affordable and is appropriate for occasional, light-duty use.

From Outside Online

The Scizza from Dreamfarm is particularly great because it has extra-long 12-centimeter blades and an elevated handle so your hands are never in the way as you cut.

From Popular-Science

The key to those angled cuts is, of course, the blade mounted on the swing arm of the miter saw that moves left and right.

From Popular-Science

Nothing does it quite like deftly decapitating a bottle of bubbly with a gleaming blade.

From The Daily Beast

Despite a dizzying number of women coming forward against her husband, Camille Cosby refuses to sharpen her blade of vengeance.

From The Daily Beast

“Sociable” and “puckish” is how a Toledo Blade headline described them in 1957.

From The Daily Beast

But as soon as she pressed the razor blade against her neck, the guard lowered the gun.

From The Daily Beast

The labels included a picture of a butterfly on a blade of grass.

From The Daily Beast

The Frenchman's blade scintillated in the setting sun around Haggard's more stiffly held weapon.

From Project Gutenberg

The Frenchman never withdrew his blade; but his very anxiety to make a hit was defeating itself.

From Project Gutenberg

Right over the stone marker, a long-shafted war-lance was carved—the blade pointing down.

From Project Gutenberg

Then he rubbed the blade of his knife back and forth over this till the edge was sharp enough to split a hair with ease.

From Project Gutenberg

He stood up, crowbar in hand, and inserted the chisel blade of the implement between the edge of the door and the doorcase.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• knife
• sword