Sickle (redirected from sickling)

sickle

an implement for cutting grass, corn, etc., having a curved blade and a short handle

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sickle [′sik·əl]

(agriculture)

The cutting mechanism of a binder, reaper, or combine.

(design engineering)

A hand tool consisting of a hooked metal blade with a short handle, used for cutting grain or other agricultural products.

(textiles)

A hooked arm for guiding the thread in a spinning mule.

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Sickle [′sik·əl]

(astronomy)

A group of six stars in the constellation Leo that outline the head of the lion.

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Sickle 

a hand implement consisting of a long, curved, slightly serrated blade and used for cutting grain. Sickles first appeared in the Neolithic and were initially used to cut wild plants. They were made of wood, bone, or clay and had a cutting edge consisting of small chips of flint, called microliths, set in a groove in a mounting. Sickles made entirely of flint date from the Aeneolithic. The first metal sickles, made of bronze, appeared in the Bronze Age. Iron sickles, which appeared in the early Iron Age, were initially small and slightly curved. Later the shapes of sickles changed, becoming larger and more curved. In the USSR the sickle has survived only as a tool for small private farm plots.