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Spade vs Sword - What's the difference?

spade | sword |

As nouns the difference between spade and sword

is that spade is a garden tool with a handle and a flat blade for digging. Not to be confused with a shovel which is used for moving earth or other materials while sword is a long-bladed weapon having a handle and sometimes a hilt and designed to stab, hew, or slice.

As a verb spade

is to turn over soil with a spade to loosen the ground for planting.

spade

English

(wikipedia spade)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) spadu, spada, from (etyl) .

Noun

(en noun)
  • A garden tool with a handle and a flat blade for digging. Not to be confused with a shovel which is used for moving earth or other materials.
  • * 1898 , , Chapter 4
  • 'Make your mind easy,' Ratsey said; 'I have dug too often in this graveyard for any to wonder if they see me with a spade .'
  • A playing card marked with the symbol .
  • I've got only one spade in my hand.
  • (offensive, ethnic slur) A black person.
  • A cutting instrument used in flensing a whale.
  • Verb

    (spad)
  • To turn over soil with a spade to loosen the ground for planting.
  • (videogaming) To collect and statistically analyze data, for the purpose of determining the underlying random number generator structure or numeric formula.
  • Etymology 2

    Compare spay, noun.

    Alternative forms

    * spaid * spayade

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A hart or stag three years old.
  • A castrated man or animal.
  • (Webster 1913)

    Anagrams

    * ----

    sword

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (l) (obsolete)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (weaponry) A long-bladed weapon having a handle and sometimes a hilt and designed to stab, hew, or slice.
  • * 1591 , William Shakespeare, Henry VI , Part III, Act II, Scene II, line 59.
  • Unsheathe your sword and dub him presently.
  • * 1786 , Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons , page 49.
  • Some swords were also made solely to thrust, and some only to cut; others were equally adapted for both.
  • Someone paid to handle a sword.
  • (tarot) A suit in the minor arcana in tarot.
  • (tarot) A card of this suit.
  • (weaving) One of the end bars by which the lay of a hand loom is suspended.
  • Derived terms

    * bastardsword * broadsword * double-edged sword * fall on one’s sword * longsword * pork sword * put to the sword * samurai sword * short sword * sword bayonet * swordbill * sword cane * swordcraft * sword dance * sword fern * swordfish * sword grass * sword knot * sword lily * sword of Damocles * swordbearer, sword-bearer * swordbearing, sword-bearing * swordplay * swordsman * swordsmanship * swordstick * sword-swallower

    Coordinate terms

    * (weaponry) bayonet, claymore, cutlass, epee, , falchion, foil, katana, knife, machete, rapier, sabre, saber, scimitar, vorpal, yataghan, yatagan

    Anagrams

    * words 1000 English basic words