scissors
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scissors
- /ˈsɪzəz/ UK
- /ˈsɪzɚz/ Canada, US
- /ˈsɪzəz/ Australia
- /ˈsəzəz/ New Zealand
Rhymes with -ɪzə(ɹ)z
Where it comes from
From Middle English sisours (attested since 1350–1400), from Old French cisoirs, from Late Latin cīsōria, plural of cīsōrium (“cutting tool”); from Latin word root -cīsus (compare excise) or caesus, past participle of caedō (“to cut”). Partially displaced native Old English sċēara (“scissors, shears”), whence shears. Doublet of chisel.
The current spelling, from the 16th century, is due to association with Medieval Latin scissor (“tailor”), from Latin carrying the meaning “carver, cutter”, from scindō (“to split”).
noun scissor · cizars · cizers · scissars · sissors
-
A tool used for cutting thin material, consisting of two crossing blades attached at a pivot point in such a way that the blades slide across each other when the handles are closed.
Near-synonym: shears
Similar: shears, pair of scissors
- A type of defensive maneuver in dogfighting, involving repeatedly turning one's aircraft towards that of the attacker in order to force them to overshoot.
- An instance of the above dogfighting maneuver.
- An attacking move conducted by two players; the player without the ball runs from one side of the ball carrier, behind the ball carrier, and receives a pass from the ball carrier on the other side. They executed a perfect scissors.
- A method of skating with one foot significantly in front of the other.
- An exercise in which the legs are switched back and forth, suggesting the motion of scissors.
- A scissors hold.
- A hand with the index and middle fingers open (a handshape resembling scissors), that beats paper and loses to rock. It beats lizard and loses to Spock in rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock.
noun cizars · cizers · scissars · sissors
- plural of scissor
verb scissorses · scissorsing · scissorsed · cizars · cizers
- Rare form of scissor (“to cut using, or as if using, scissors”). She found her in the dining-room with Ann Foster, the little dressmaker, who was endeavouring to scissors through the right side of her underlip with her teeth as proof that the compiling of a list of requisites was no tax to her.
verb cizars · cizers · scissars · sissors
- third-person singular simple present indicative of scissor
interjection cizars · cizers · scissars · sissors
- Cry of anguish or frustration. Say, wouldn’t it put your eye out to get a letter from one of the kiddies with the thumb‐prints of that crest not doing a thing but snuggling down in the wax on the envelope? Oh, scissors!
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: snips, shears, manicure, charlotte, chisels, clippers, secateurs, cutters, trimmers, kitchen shears, pruners, nippers, garden shears, pinking shears, pruning shears, shear
Translations
Every language
noun tool used for cutting
| Español | tijeras |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 가위 gawi |
| 日本語 | 鋏 hasami |
| 中文 | 剪刀 jiǎndāo, 剪子 jiǎnzi |
| हिन्दी | कैंची ka͠icī, क़ैंची qa͠icī |
| Kiswahili | mkasi, mikasi |
| Português | tesoura |
| Français | ciseaux |
| Deutsch | Schere |
| Italiano | forbici |
| Ελληνικά | ψαλίδι psalídi |
| Română | foarfece, foarfecă |
| Русский | но́жницы nóžnicy |
| Tiếng Việt | kéo |
| العربية | مِقَصّ miqaṣṣ, مِقْرَاض miqrāḍ |
| עברית | מִסְפָּרַיִם, מספריים misparáim |
Talk about this word "scissors." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/scissors. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. scissors. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/scissors "scissors." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/scissors.Cite this
@misc{scissors_2026,
title = {scissors},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/scissors},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
