See Also: blade(medicine)
blade(dictionary)
blade(dictionary)
shoulder blade(medicine)
Blade bone(health)
Bone, blade(health)
Blade Runner(dictionary)
razor blade(dictionary)
shoulder blade(dictionary)
Blade Helicopters(tourism)

blade (iou)



blade noun & verb.

A. noun.
1. a. The leaf of a herb or plant. Now poet. & dial. in gen. sense. OE.
b. spec. A flat spear-shaped leaf, esp. of grass or a cereal crop; the whole of such plants before the ear appears. LME.
in the blade with only the blade (not yet the ear) showing; fig. in the early stage, immature.
2. The broad, flattened part of any instrument or utensil, as an oar, spade, bat, paddle-wheel, turbine, propeller, etc. OE.
3. A broad flat bone; esp. that of the shoulder of man or other large animals (of some also as a joint of meat). ME.
shoulder-blade: see SHOULDER noun.
4. a. The thin cutting part of a sword, chisel, knife, etc. ME.
switch-blade: see SWITCH noun.
b. An edged weapon; a sword. Chiefly literary. LME.
c. In full razor-blade. A flat piece of metal with usu. two sharp edges, used in a safety razor. M19.
d. In pl. Hand shears. Austral. & NZ. E20.
5. A dashing, pleasure-seeking fellow. L16.
S. Pepys The present fashion among the blades. S. Johnson When we meet we will be jolly blades. G. Clare Father was neither a young blade nor a rake.
6. A thin piece of something (esp. mace). M17.
7. Botany. The broad, thin part of a leaf or petal, excluding the petiole. E19.
8. Esp. Phonetics. The flat part of the tongue behind the tip. L19.
9. Archaeology. A long narrow flake. E20.
Comb.: blade-bone = sense 3 above; blade-consonant Phonetics a consonant (e.g. [s], [n]) formed with the blade of the tongue; blade-work control of the blade of an oar in rowing.
b. verb.
verb trans. Remove the (esp. outside) leaves from. dial. LME.
verb trans. Provide with a (cutting) blade. LME.
verb intrans. Put out blades or leaves, sprout. M16.
bladed adjective (a) having blades or a blade (freq. as 2nd elem. of comb., of a specified kind); (b) having been bladed; (c) having put out leaves: L16.
bladeless adjective M19.
bladelike adjective resembling a blade M19.