sword

Universal Words noun a weapon with a long metal blade and a handle: to draw / sheathe a sword (= to take it out / put it into its cover) IDIOMS put sb to the sword (old-fashioned or literary) to kill sb with a SWORD a / the sword of Damocles (literary) a bad or unpleasant thing that might happen to you at any time and that makes you feel worried or frightened ORIGIN From the legend in which Damocles had to sit at a meal at the court of Dionysius with a sword hanging by a single hair above his head. He had praised Dionysius' happiness, and Dionysius wanted him to understand how quickly happiness can be lost. turn swords into ploughshares (literary) to stop fighting and return to peaceful activities moreatCROSSv., DOUBLE-EDGED