n.1 a weapon usu. of metal with a long blade and hilt with a handguard, used esp. for thrusting or striking, and often worn as part of ceremonial dress.
2 (prec. by the) a war. b military power.
Phrases and idioms:
put to the sword kill, esp. in war. sword-bearer an official carrying the sovereign's etc. sword on a formal occasion. sword dance a dance in which the performers brandish swords or step about swords laid on the ground. sword grass a grass, Scirpus americanus, with swordlike leaves. sword knot a ribbon or tassel attached to a sword-hilt orig. for securing it to the wrist. sword lily GLADIOLUS. sword of Damocles an imminent danger (from Damokles, flatterer of Dionysius of Syracuse (4th c. BC) made to feast while a sword hung by a hair over him). the sword of justice judicial authority. Sword of State a sword borne before the sovereign on State occasions. sword-swallower a person ostensibly or actually swallowing sword blades as entertainment.
Derivatives:
swordlike adj.
Etymology: OE sw(e)ord f. Gmc