Blades

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /bleɪdz/

Definitions

1. A long, narrow cutting instrument that serves to slice through materials, which may appear in tools or combat implements
2. A slender, sharp-edged piece utilized for cutting purposes, commonly present in various machinery or weaponry
3. A thin, pointed part of a tool or weapon used to cut or slice through objects

Etymology: The sharp edge of a knife or sword and the flat leaf of a plant share a single ancestor. "Blade" comes from Old English "blæd", which meant "leaf" or "blossom" and was linked to the idea of thriving and blooming. The leaf sense survives in the grass blade, and the word's cousins across Germanic languages still mean leaf: German "Blatt", Dutch and Swedish "blad". The shift to cutting edges is a metaphor of shape. A long, flat, slender leaf looks like a sword or a knife, so English speakers borrowed the plant word for the weapon and the tool. German has kept the same logic, calling a saw blade a "Sägeblatt", literally "saw leaf". The plural "blades" simply follows the noun's regular pattern.

Synonyms: swords, knives, cutters, sharpened instruments, edges

Antonyms: blunt objects, dull tools, safety instruments, non-cutting tools, blunt edges