cradle scythe

noun

1. cradle ( def 4b ).

Word History and Origins

Origin of cradle scythe¹

First recorded in 1660–70

Example Sentences

In one, a farmworker sharpens his cradle scythe, with its fingerlike projections, to gather straw in East Meadow, circa 1905; in another, men sit in the linotype room of The Long Island City Star, around 1908; yet another photograph captures the bustle of Brooklyn’s Wallabout Market, once a major destination for farmers, including those from Long Island, and the grocers who bought from them.

From New York Times

It look's like the home of a traveling tinker, cluttered with gadgets, junk and such craft objects as an old cradle scythe, an Algerian blanket, a tom-tom, a coffee table made from a square sheet of aluminum, calabash rattles and rattles made of beer cans filled with pebbles.

From Time Magazine Archive

Each one must select his wood, cure, fashion, and fit his own ax with a handle, grind and swing it properly, as well as cradle, scythe and sickle.

From Project Gutenberg

Time passed away—the wheat and the oats were now ripe and fit for the scythe, for in Canada the settlers mow wheat with an instrument called a "cradle scythe."

From Project Gutenberg

With my cradle scythe, feeling brisk and blithe,   In the breeze-tempered heat of this fine day; I'll haste to the field with the wheaten yield,   And there will I manfully cut my way.

From Project Gutenberg