back-swordn.
/ˈbakˈsɔːd/ archaic.
1. A sword with only one cutting edge.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > sharp weapon > side arms > sword > [noun] > other types of sword
heading sword1513
tonsword?1578
dancing rapier1594
fox1599
back-sword1611
acinaces1653
sahaguna1668
walking sword1677
diego1709
wakizashi1727
kleywang1783
pedang1817
sundang1852
tachi1948
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Badelaire, a short and broad back sword.
1645 R. Overton Sacred Decretall 24 St. Paul's Back-sword at his side.
1748 Visct. Bolingbroke Coll. Polit. Tracts 214 The Back-Sword of Justice, which cuts only on one side.
2.
a. A stick with a basket-hilt, used instead of a sword in fencing, a single-stick.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > fencing > [noun] > foil
waster1455
foil1594
hilt1609
blunt1611
fleureta1648
foin1655
small sword1679
back-sword1747
flamberg1885
épée1889
sabre1910
wafter-
1747 J. Godfrey Treat. Useful Sci. Def. Pref. I have purchased my knowledge in the Back-Sword with many a broken head.
b. Fencing exercise with such a weapon.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > fencing > fencing or exercise with sticks or cudgels > [noun]
waster1519
wastership1575
single billeta1625
cudgels1630
quarterstaff1631
cudgel-playa1635
back-sword1699
cudgel-playing1717
hurlbatting1744
single-stick1771
short-staff1775
cudgelling1787
stick fighting1845
stick play1849
back-swording1857
kendo1921
1699 G. Farquhar Love & Bottle ii. ii. 18 I'm much in Love with Fencing: But I think Back-Sword is the best play.
3. A fencer with back-sword or single-stick.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > fencing > fencing or exercise with sticks or cudgels > [noun] > practitioner
back-swordman1600
back-sword1656
cudgel-player1711
cudgeller1811
stick player1828
stick fighter1845
stickman1908
1656 W. Davenant Siege of Rhodes i. 6 To the Back-Swords of London.
1779 R. B. Sheridan St. Patrick's Day i. ii. 295 A sturdy fellow..and the best back-sword in the country.
Derivatives
back-ˈswording n. = sense 2b.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > fencing > fencing or exercise with sticks or cudgels > [noun]
waster1519
wastership1575
single billeta1625
cudgels1630
quarterstaff1631
cudgel-playa1635
back-sword1699
cudgel-playing1717
hurlbatting1744
single-stick1771
short-staff1775
cudgelling1787
stick fighting1845
stick play1849
back-swording1857
kendo1921
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. ii. 30 The great times for back-swording came round once a-year.
back-ˈswordman n. = sense 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > fencing > fencing or exercise with sticks or cudgels > [noun] > practitioner
back-swordman1600
back-sword1656
cudgel-player1711
cudgeller1811
stick player1828
stick fighter1845
stickman1908
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iii. ii. 63 I knew him a good backsword man . View more context for this quotation
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. ii. 29 A famous back-sword man.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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