scythe

 
Pronunciation: /sʌɪð/

noun

  • a tool used for cutting crops such as grass or corn, with a long curved blade at the end of a long pole attached to one or two short handles.

verb

[with object]
  • cut with a scythe: the grass was scythed at regular intervals the first job was to scythe paths through the nettles figurative you may want hardy infantry troops to scythe down the opposition
  • [no object, with adverbial] move through or penetrate something rapidly and forcefully: attacking players can scythe through defences

Origin:

Old English sīthe, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zeis and German Sense

Spelling help

Remember that scythe begins with scy- and has an e at the end.