sickle

Pronunciation: /ˈsɪkl̩/

The English word “sickle” has 6 meanings listed here.

noun

An implement having a semicircular blade and short handle, used for cutting long grass and cereal crops.
A sickle feather, any of the sickle-shaped rear feathers of the domestic cock.
The crescent moon.

verb

To cut with a sickle.
Of red blood cells: to assume an abnormal crescent shape.
To deform (as with a red blood cell) into an abnormal crescent shape, to cause to sickle.

Etymology

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.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.