What does "blade" mean?
The (typically sharp-edged) part of a knife, sword, razor, or other tool with which it cuts.
Blade
/bleɪd/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The (typically sharp-edged) part of a knife, sword, razor, or other tool with which it cuts.
- Grammar: blade is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: leaf blade, adze, airfoil, alveolar ridge.
- Useful contrasts: bluntness, disk, dullness.
- Usage evidence: The tip of the knife blade is sharp.
How to use "blade"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "blade" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "blade" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "blade" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "blade" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "blade" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "leaf blade" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "blade", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The (typically sharp-edged) part of a knife, sword, razor, or other tool with which it cuts.
"Sword. — The blade is straight, tapers gradually, is 32 9/16 inches long from shoulder to point, and is fullered on both sides, commencing 2 inches from the shoulder, to about 17 inches from the point, to a thickness of ·035 inch."
- 2 Someone connected with Sheffield United Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.
- 3 the flat part of a tool or weapon that (usually) has a cutting edge wordnet
- 4 The (typically sharp-edged) part of a knife, sword, razor, or other tool with which it cuts.; A sword or knife. metonymically
"Paul: Give the Harkonnen a blade and let him stand forth. Shaddam IV: If Feyd wishes, he can meet you with my blade in his hand."
- 5 flat surface that rotates and pushes against air or water wordnet
Show 31 more definitions
- 6 The (typically sharp-edged) part of a knife, sword, razor, or other tool with which it cuts.; Ellipsis of razor blade. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
- 7 the part of the skate that slides on the ice wordnet
- 8 The flat functional end or piece of a propeller, oar, hockey stick, chisel, screwdriver, skate, etc.
"Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work."
- 9 a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard wordnet
- 10 The narrow leaf of a grass or cereal.
- 11 a broad flat body part (as of the shoulder or tongue) wordnet
- 12 The thin, flat part of a plant leaf, attached to a stem (petiole).
- 13 a cut of beef from the shoulder blade wordnet
- 14 A flat bone, especially the shoulder blade.
- 15 something long and thin resembling a blade of grass wordnet
- 16 A cut of beef from near the shoulder blade (part of the chuck).
- 17 a dashing young man wordnet
- 18 The part of the tongue just behind the tip, used to make laminal consonants.
- 19 especially a leaf of grass or the broad portion of a leaf as distinct from the petiole wordnet
- 20 A piece of prepared, sharp-edged stone, often flint, at least twice as long as it is wide; a long flake of ground-edge stone or knapped vitreous stone.
- 21 A throw characterized by a tight parabolic trajectory due to a steep lateral attitude.
- 22 The rudder, daggerboard, or centerboard of a vessel.
- 23 A bulldozer or surface-grading machine with mechanically adjustable blade that is nominally perpendicular to the forward motion of the vehicle.
- 24 A dashing young man. dated
"He saw a Turnkey in a trice / Unfetter a troublesome blade;"
- 25 A homosexual, usually male. US, slang
- 26 An area of a city which is commonly known for prostitution. US, slang
- 27 Thin plate, foil.
- 28 One of a series of small plates that make up the aperture or the shutter of a camera.
- 29 The principal rafters of a roof. in-plural
- 30 The four large shell plates on the sides, and the five large ones of the middle, of the carapace of the sea turtle, which yield the best tortoise shell.
- 31 Ellipsis of blade server. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
- 32 Synonym of knifeblade.
- 33 An exterior product of vectors. (The product may have more than two factors. Also, a scalar counts as a 0-blade, a vector as a 1-blade; an exterior product of k vectors may be called a k-blade.)
- 34 The part of a key that is inserted into the lock.
- 35 An artificial foot used by amputee athletes, shaped like an upside-down question mark. informal
- 36 The quality of singing with a pure, resonant sound; especially of a countertenor. uncountable
"He wasn’t loud, but his voice had lots of blade."
Verb
- 1 To skate on rollerblades. informal
"Want to go blading with me later in the park?"
- 2 To furnish with a blade. transitive
- 3 To put forth or have a blade. intransitive, poetic
"As sweet a plant, as fair a flower, is faded / As ever in the Muses' garden bladed."
- 4 To stab with a blade transitive
"The gang member got bladed in a fight."
- 5 To cut a person (usually oneself) so as to provoke bleeding. slang, transitive
"Nowadays, blading happens on occasion in a televised match and more often on pay-per-view but the practice isn't used as much for several reasons, among them an increased awareness of the transmission of AIDS has made blading more dangerous."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"The tip of the knife blade is sharp."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "blade"?
Common synonyms include: leaf blade, adze, airfoil, alveolar ridge, alveolus, apex.
How do you use "blade" in a sentence?
The tip of the knife blade is sharp.
How do you pronounce "blade"?
Pronounced /bleɪd/.
Etymology
From Middle English blade, blad, from Old English blæd (“leaf”), from Proto-West Germanic *blad, from Proto-Germanic *bladą, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥h₃-o-to-m, from *bʰleh₃- (“to thrive, bloom”). See also West Frisian bled, Dutch blad, German Blatt, Danish blad, Irish bláth (“flower”), Welsh blodyn (“flower”), Tocharian A pält, Tocharian B pilta (“leaf”), Albanian fletë (“leaf”). Similar usage in German Sägeblatt (“saw blade”, literally “saw leaf”). Doublet of blat. More at blow.