backsword

English

Etymology

back +‎ sword

Noun

backsword (plural backswords)

1. A sword with one sharp edge.
   • 1884, Robert F. Burton, The Book of the Sword, page 140:

     It is a thick, heavy backsword, eighteen inches long, with a bevel where the point should be, worn at the waist in a half-scabbard of wood, and used for digging as well as killing.

2. (UK, dated) A stick with a basket handle, used in rustic amusements.
3. (UK, dated) The game in which the stick is used.
   • 1842, The Asiatic Journal […] :

     One afternoon , as the missionary and I were sitting outside our tents , my attention was attracted towards a group of sepahis engaged under a banyantree , playing the game of backsword

Synonyms

• (stick with basket handle): singlestick

Derived terms

• backswordman

Translations

a sword with one sharp edge

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 單刃刀／单刃刀 (dānrèndāo)

• German: Pallasch (de) m, Korbschwert n
• Japanese: バックソード (bakkusōdo)
• Kazakh: алдаспан (aldaspan), наркескен (narkesken)
• Manx: cliwe ghrommey f
• Russian: пала́ш (ru) m (paláš)

Anagrams

• backwords