blade
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The part of a knife, sword, razor, or other tool with which it cuts.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
blaydIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbleɪd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The (typically sharp-edged) part of a knife, sword, razor, or other tool with which it cuts.
metonymic
A sword or knife.
The flat functional end or piece of a propeller, oar, hockey stick, chisel, screwdriver, skate, etc.
The narrow leaf of a grass or cereal.
A cut of beef from near the shoulder blade (part of the chuck).
A bulldozer or surface-grading machine with mechanically adjustable blade that is nominally perpendicular to the forward motion of the vehicle.
verb
informal
To skate on rollerblades.
transitive
To furnish with a blade.
transitive
To stab with a blade
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The (typically sharp-edged) part of a knife, sword, razor, or other tool with which it cuts.
Used this way, blade is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use blade
- “Gay young blades bragged of their amorous adventures.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Small yellow to orange fruit of the Barbados gooseberry cactus used in desserts and preserves and jellies.
A drilling bit with cutting edges usually hardened against wear.
A roast cut from the blade.
Blade of a rotating fan.
The blade of a knife.
Especially a leaf of grass or the broad portion of a leaf as distinct from the petiole.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A pocketknife with a blade that springs open at the press of a button.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.