Sword-breaker

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A short sword or dagger with a deeply notched or toothed blade, or with secondary projections, designed to catch or grapple an opponent's weapon.

    "The deepest indentations are in the so-called Sword-breakers (brise-épées), mostly of the fifteenth century."

  2. 2
    A notch or projection on a dagger, etc., designed to catch an opponent's weapon. uncommon

    "The dagger has the triangular knuckle-guard peculiar to the period, also straight quillons, fluted pommel and similar grip; the blade is 18 in. long, 2 in. wide at the hilt, where it is furnished with two sword-breakers."

Example

More examples

"The deepest indentations are in the so-called Sword-breakers (brise-épées), mostly of the fifteenth century."

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.