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sickle

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sickle¹

  • /ˈsɪkl̩/

Rhymes with -ɪkəl

Where it comes from

From Middle English sikel (also assibilated in sichel), from Old English sicol, siċel, from Proto-West Germanic *sikilu, itself borrowed from Latin sēcula (“sickle”) or sīcīlis (“sickle”). Cognate with Dutch sikkel, German Sichel. Remotely related with English scythe and saw.

noun sickles

  1. An implement having a semicircular blade and short handle, used for cutting long grass and cereal crops. Coordinate term: scythe

    Similar: reap hook, reaping hook

  2. A sickle feather, any of the sickle-shaped rear feathers of the domestic cock.
  3. poetic The crescent moon. Then, ere the silver sickle of that month Became her golden shield, I stole from court With Cyril and with Florian, unperceived.

verb sickles · sickling · sickled

  1. rare, transitive To cut with a sickle. Near-synonyms: reap, mow

    Similar: reap, mow

  2. intransitive Of red blood cells: to assume an abnormal crescent shape. Even the cells of heterozygotes will sickle if the oxygen tension is low enough.
  3. transitive To deform (as with a red blood cell) into an abnormal crescent shape, to cause to sickle.

Sickle²

Where it comes from

Probably an Americanized form of German Sickel.

proper noun Sickles

  1. A surname from German.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: reaping hook, reap hook, hemoglobinopathy, scythe, reaping-hook, pruning-hook, billhook, hedge-bill, reaper, falx, serpe, cutter, slash hook, kama, hedgebill, cradle

Translations

Every language

noun agricultural implement

Españolhoz, falce, segur, echona
한국어낫 nat
日本語鎌 kama
中文鐮刀 /镰刀 liándāo
हिन्दीदरांती darāntī, हँसिया hãsiyā
Kiswahilimundu
Portuguêsfoice
Françaisfaucille
DeutschSichel
Italianofalce, falcetto
Ελληνικάδρεπάνι drepáni
Românăseceră
Русскийсерп serp
Tiếng Việtliềm
العربيةمِنْجَل minjal
עבריתמַגָּל magál

verb to cut with a sickle

Françaisfauciller
Românăsecera
Русскийжать žatʹ
עבריתקָצַר

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Cite this
MLA

"sickle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sickle. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

sickle. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sickle

Chicago

"sickle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sickle.

BibTeX
@misc{sickle_2026,
  title = {sickle},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sickle},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}