All 3 Uses of
scythe
in
Gulliver's Travels
- Whereupon seven monsters, like himself, came towards him with reaping-hooks in their hands, each hook about the largeness of six scythes.†
Chpt 2
- Her knives were twice as long as a scythe, set straight upon the handle.†
Chpt 2 *scythe = a tool for cutting grass that has a curved blade and a long handle that is held with both hands
- I used to attend the king's levee once or twice a week, and had often seen him under the barber's hand, which indeed was at first very terrible to behold; for the razor was almost twice as long as an ordinary scythe.†
Chpt 2
Definitions:
-
(1)
(scythe) a tool for cutting grass that has a curved blade and a long handle that is held with both hands
(See this Google Images link for scythe to see samples.) -
(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."