Sickles

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A curved agricultural tool used for cutting grain or grass, typically having a sharp blade attached to a handle
2. An emblematic symbol associated with agriculture and harvest, historically used in various cultural contexts
3. A handheld implement with a curved blade employed for harvesting crops and clearing vegetation, often featuring a wooden or metal handle

Etymology: "Sickles" is simply the plural of "sickle," the curved blade with a short handle used for cutting grain and grass. The tool's name reaches back to a Latin word, "secula" or "sicilis," both meaning "sickle," which Germanic speakers borrowed and shaped into "*sikilu" in Proto-West Germanic. That form gave Old English "sicol" and "sicel," which in Middle English became "sikel," with a variant "sichel" showing the softened "sh" sound that also survives in the German "Sichel." Most of the symbolic weight comes from the tool itself, paired with the hammer in Soviet and communist imagery, where the two together stood for industrial workers and peasants. The plural form in the entry you asked about refers to multiple such tools, or to repeated depictions of them in emblems and flags.

Synonyms: scythes, cutters