Association of British Scrabble Players

Science & Tech > Weapons > Swords & Knives


Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.


anelace anlace anlas a short two-edged dagger.
ataghan yataghan yatagan a Muslim long curved knife.
athame a witch's knife used in ritual.
backsword a sword with one sharp edge.
barong a broad-bladed Philippine knife.
baselard a short sword or dagger, worn in the fifteenth century.
bilbo a rapier or sword > BILBOS or BILBOES. [From the town of Bilbao, famous for its swords].
bilboa a rapier or sword, a BILBO.
blade a sword.
bodkin a dagger, stiletto; a blunt needle.
bokken a wooden sword for training.
boline a witch's knife used in ritual, an ATHAME.
bolo a traditional long-bladed Philippine knife > BOLOS.
bowie as in bowie knife, a large knife. No —S.
brand brond (poetic) a sword.
broadsword a cutting sword with a broad blade.
brondyron a brand, a sword.
cemitare a SCIMITAR.
chakra in Sikh culture, a disc-shaped knife used as a missile; a discus representing the sun, as in portrayals of Hindu gods; in yoga, one of the seven centres of spiritual power in the body.
choil the end of a knife blade nearest the handle.
chiv chive shiv chib a knife; (verb) to cut with a knife > CHIVVED, CHIVED, SHIVVED, CHIBBED.
claymore a large sword. [Gaelic claidheamh, sword + mor, great].
couteau a knife; a dagger > COUTEAUX.
crampet a metal tip at the end of a SCABBARD.
crease creese kreese cris kris a dagger or short sword used by the Malays, commonly having a serpentine blade. CREESE, KREESE and KRIS can be used as verbs: to stab with this > CREESED, KREESED, KRISED.
curtalax curtaxe curtalaxe a short broad sword; a cutlass.
curtana a sword without a point, symbolic of mercy. [L. curtus, short].
cutlas cutlass a curved, one-edged sword formerly used by sailors.
cutto cuttoe a large knife > CUTTOES. [Fr. couteau].
da dah a heavy Burmese knife.
dagger a short stabbing weapon with a pointed blade; (verb) to stab with a dagger.
daggerlike like a dagger.
digladiate to fight with swords; to fence.
digladiator one who fights with swords.
dirk a kind of dagger; (verb) to stab with a dirk.
dudgeon the haft of a dagger; a small dagger; also, a fit or state of angry indignation usually provoked by opposition.
epee a sword similar to the foil but with a larger guard and a heavier blade of triangular cross section.
espada a sword.
estoc a sword used for thrusting, esp. in bullfighting.
falchion fauchion fauchon faulchion a broad curved sword.
foil a light slender flexible sword usually having a bell-shaped guard, and when used in the sport of fencing tipped with a button.
foin foyne to thrust with a sword or spear.
fox a type of sword.
gladius a sword; also a cuttlefish pen > GLADIUSES.
glaive gleave a broadsword.
glaived bearing a GLAIVE, a broadsword.
gully gulley a big knife; a groove; (verb) to wear a gully in.
handjar hanjar khanjar a Persian dagger.
hanger a short sword.
jackknife a knife with the blade pivoted to fit into a recess in the handle; (verb) to fold up like a jackknife.
jambiya jambiyah a Middle Eastern curved dagger with two edges.
jockteleg a large clasp knife. [Possibly from jack the leg, the all-purpose knife that hangs by the leg].
katana a long single-edged samurai sword.
khanda a double-edged Sikh sword.
khanjar see HANJAR.
kirpan a small sword or dagger worn by Sikhs.
knife (verb) to stab with a knife.
knifelike like a knife.
knive to knife.
kreese see CREESE.
kris see CREESE.
kukri a broad curved Gurkha knife.
machete matchet a broad heavy knife used for cutting or as a weapon, esp. in parts of Central and South America.
panga an African knife, like a machete.
paperknife a knife for cutting paper
parang a large Malay or Dyak sheath-knife.
penknife a small POCKETKNIFE.
pilcher a scabbard.
pocketknife a knife for carrying in the pocket.
poignado poinado a PONIARD, a small dagger > POIGNADOES, POINADOES.
poniard a small dagger; (verb) to stab with a poniard.
quillon the arm of the cross-guard of a sword handle.
rapier a straight, two-edged sword with a narrow pointed blade, designed especially for thrusting.
rapierlike like a RAPIER.
rapiered wearing a RAPIER.
saber sabre a stout cavalry sword, having a single edge; (verb) to strike with a sabre.
saberlike like a SABER.
sabrelike like a SABRE.
scabbard a holder for a bladed weapon such as a sword.
schiavone a basket-hilted broadsword used by the Doge's bodyguard of Slavs. [Ital. Schiavoni, Slavs].
schlager a duelling sword used in some German universities.
scimetar scimitar scimiter semitar semitaur simitar symitar symitare a curved sword.
shabble an old rusty sword.
shank an often homemade knife; (verb) in golf, to strike the ball by mistake with the part of the club where the clubhead meets the shaft.
shortsword a sword with a short blade.
simi in Africa, a short two-edged sword or large knife.
skean skeen skene a double-edged dagger used in Ireland and Scotland. [Gaelic sgean, knife].
smallsword a light sword used for thrusting only; especially, the sword worn by civilians of rank in the eighteenth century.
snickersnee a large knife, cutlass etc.; a knife fight. [Orig. steake or snye - an English variation on a Dutch term meaning 'thrust and cut'].
spadroon a sword, especially a broadsword, formerly used both to cut and thrust.
stilet stylet a small poniard, a stiletto.
stiletto a narrow dagger; (verb) to stab with a stiletto > STILETTOS or STILETTOES.
sweard sword.
sword (verb) to wield a sword > SWORDED, SWORDING.
swordcraft skill at making swords.
swordlike like a sword.
swordplay fighting with swords.
swordproof proof against swords.
swordstick a hollow stick containing a sword.
tanto a short Japanese sword > TANTOS.
toledo a sword or sword blade made at Toledo in Spain, which city was famous in the 16th and 17th centuries for the excellence of its weapons > TOLEDOS.
tsuba a metal plate at the top of a Japanese scabbard, serving as a sword-guard.
tulwar an Indian sabre.
ulu an Eskimo knife. [Inupiaq].
unscabbard to withdraw e.g. a sword from a scabbard.
vorpal a nonsense word coined by Lewis Carroll to describe a sword.
whinger a dirk or short sword.
whiniard whinyard a short sword or dirk.
yatagan yataghan see ATAGHAN.