I. ˈblād noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English blæd; akin to Old High German blat leaf, Old Norse blath, Latin folium, Greek phyllon leaf, Old English blōwan to blossom — more at blow
1.
a. : a leaf of a plant ; especially : a leaf of an herb or more narrowly of a grass
blades of stunted grass
b. chiefly Scotland : a leaf that is broad and flat
a blade of rhubarb
c.
(1) : the expanded portion of a leaf or a plant organ resembling a leaf : lamina 2b( 1 ) — distinguished from petiole
(2) : the broad terminal part of certain petals — distinguished from claw
2. : an object or part of an object resembling the blade of a leaf especially in broadness and flatness: as
a. : the broad flattened part of an oar or paddle that exerts force against the water to propel a boat
b. : something with an action basically similar to that of the blade of an oar: as
(1) : a fluke of a whale
(2) : a float of a paddle wheel
(3) : an arm of a screw propeller, centrifugal fan, or steam turbine
(4) : an airfoil used as a propeller to produce thrust or as a part of the lift-producing system of a rotary-wing aircraft
c. : a broad flat bone (as one of the rami of a mandible) ; specifically : scapula — now used chiefly in naming cuts of meat
a blade chop
— see beef illustration
d. : a piece of mace
e. : the part of the arm of an anchor behind the palm
f. : the expanded rear portion of the comb of a single-comb fowl — see cock illustration
g. : the striking surface of a golf club or a hockey stick
h. phonetics
(1) : the portion of the tongue immediately behind the tip and lying approximately opposite the teethridge when the tongue is at rest
(2) : this portion of the tongue together with the tip
i. : the light-obstructing portion of the shutter of a camera
j. : an inclined metal slab that functions as an ink reservoir in the fountain mechanism of a printing press
k. : the broad, flat, or concave part of a road grader, bulldozer, or snowplow that comes into direct contact with the material to be moved
3. : an object or part of an object resembling a blade of grass: as
a. : the cutting part of an instrument
the blade of a sword
well-set saw blades
b. : an edged instrument: as
(1) : sword
(2) : a stone tool similar to a knife and having one or more sharp cutting edges
c. : the runner of an ice skate
d. : the long arm of a T square or carpenter's square
e. : a single plate of baleen from a right whale
f. : one of the movable conducting bars of an electrical switch
g. : a slat especially in a venetian blind, louver, or shutter
4. : a human being:
a. : swordsman
b. : a sharp-witted, dashing, wild, or reckless fellow
such a gay blade of a fellow
c. : woman
the old blade shouldn't last much longer
5. : one of the principal rafters of a roof
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English bladen, from blade, n.
transitive verb
1. : to furnish with a blade
2. chiefly Scotland : to pluck leaves from (a plant)
blading cabbages for market
3. : to remove (as gravel or dirt) with machinery having a blade (as a grader or bulldozer)
intransitive verb
1. : to leaf out : put forth leaves
2. : to remove typically gravel, dirt, or muck with machinery having a blade
III. adjective
Etymology: blade (I)
of speech sounds : articulated with or involving the participation of the blade of the tongue
s and z are blade consonants
IV. intransitive verb
( -s )
: to skate on in-line skates
• blad·er -ər noun