broadsword
(ˈbrɔːdsɔəd)
[f. broad a. + sword.]
‘A cutting sword with a broad blade’ (J.). Also attrib.
| [a 1000 Byrhtnoth 15 (Gr.) Ða he healdan mihte brad swurd.] c 1565 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. an. 1559 The master of Lindsay struck him on the head with a broad⁓sword. 1789 Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France I. 243 The Highland broad-sword is still called an Andrew Ferrara. 1799 Rowlandson (title) Hungarian and Highland Broadsword Exercise. 1843 Prescott Mexico I. 359 They killed two of the horses, cutting through their necks with their stout broadswords..at a blow. |
b. transf. (pl.) Men armed with broadswords.
| 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 330 Lochiel, surrounded by more than six hundred broadswords. |
c. Comb., as broadsword-shaped adj.
| 1870 Rolleston Anim. Life 22 The scapula, a broadsword-shaped bone. |