01 n. Properly, the leaf, or flat part of the leaf, of any plant, especially of gramineous plants. The term is sometimes applied to the spire of …
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1.
Properly, the leaf, or flat part of the leaf, of any plant, especially of gramineous plants. The term is sometimes applied to the spire of grasses.“The crimson dulse . . . with its waving blade.” — Percival.“First the blade, then ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” — Mark iv. 28.
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2.
The cutting part of an instrument; as, the blade of a knife or a sword.
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3.
The broad part of an oar; also, one of the projecting arms of a screw propeller.
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4.
The scapula or shoulder blade.
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5.
The principal rafters of a roof.(Arch.)
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6.
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.(Com.)
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7.
A sharp-witted, dashing, wild, or reckless, fellow; -- a word of somewhat indefinite meaning.“He saw a turnkey in a trice Fetter a troublesome blade.” — Coleridge.
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8.
The flat part of the tongue immediately behind the tip, or point.““Lower blade” implies, of course, the lower instead of the upper surface of the tongue.” — H. Sweet.