However, using a sickle with a short handle means your arms are close to the blade—be sure to use this tool with caution.—Rachel Ahrnsen, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 May 2024 Lambs were kept indoors in the southwest part of the home, and each home had a toolbox with items including sickles, axes and razors.—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Mar. 2024
Adjective
The announcement is a landmark in the treatment of sickle cell disease, a devastating condition in which red blood cells deform into a sickle shape and clog up blood vessels.—Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 8 Dec. 2023 Those misshapen hemoglobin proteins stick together in people with sickle cell, distorting the shape of red blood cells from a round shape to a sickle one that cannot flow through our blood vessels as easily.—Janice Blanchard, Scientific American, 18 Dec. 2023
Verb
In 1948, pediatrician Janet Watson noticed that children with sickle cell disease had normal blood cells as infants, but that the cells became sickled around six months.—Emily Mullin, WIRED, 19 Dec. 2023 Exertional sickling deaths occur in athletes carrying the sickle cell trait.—Jennifer Borresen, courier-journal.com, 18 Apr. 2023 See all Example Sentences for sickle
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sickle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English sikel, from Old English sicol, from Latin secula sickle, from secare to cut — more at saw
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
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