The Only Use of

scythe
in
The Scarlet Letter

He had slain men with his own hand, for aught I know—certainly, they had fallen like blades of grass at the sweep of the scythe before the charge to which his spirit imparted its triumphant energy—but, be that as it might, there was never in his heart so much cruelty as would have brushed the down off a butterfly's wing.†
p. 22.7

Definitions:

(1) (scythe)
a tool for cutting grass that has a curved blade and a long handle that is held with both hands
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
meaning too rare to warrant focus:

Much more rarely, scythe can be used as a verb to reference the cutting of weeds or tall grasses (such as hay or wheat) with a scythe. Metaphorically, the verb form can be used to describe cutting through anything as in "scythed through the problems in less than a week."