different between scissors vs secateurs

English

Alternative forms

• cizars, cizers (both obsolete)
• scissars (archaic)
• sissors (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English sisours, sisoures (attested since 1350–1400), from Old French cisoires, from Vulgar Latin *c?s?ria, plural of Late Latin c?s?rium (“cutting tool”) (compare chisel); from Latin word root -c?sus (compare excise) or caesus, past participle of caed? (“to cut”). Partially displaced native Old English s??ara (“scissors, shears”), whence shears.

• The current spelling, from the 16th century, is due to association with Medieval Latin scissor (“tailor”), from Latin carrying the meaning “carver, cutter”, from scindere (“to split”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s?z?z/
• (US) enPR: s?z??rz, IPA^(key): /?s?z?z/
• Rhymes: -?z?(r)z

Noun

scissors (plural scissors)

1. (countable, usually construed as plural) A tool used for cutting thin material, consisting of two crossing blades attached at a pivot point in such a way that the blades slide across each other when the handles are closed.
2. (uncountable, aviation, military, with the) A type of defensive maneuver in dogfighting, involving repeatedly turning one's aircraft towards that of the attacker in order to force them to overshoot.
3. (countable, rugby) An attacking move conducted by two players; the player without the ball runs from one side of the ball carrier, behind the ball carrier, and receives a pass from the ball carrier on the other side.

4. (countable, skating) A method of skating with one foot significantly in front of the other.
5. (countable, gymnastics) An exercise in which the legs are switched back and forth, suggesting the motion of scissors.
6. (countable, wrestling) A scissors hold.
7. (rock paper scissors) A hand with the index and middle fingers open (a handshape resembling scissors), that beats paper and loses to rock. It beats lizard and loses to Spock in rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock.

scissors

1. (rare) plural of scissor

Usage notes

• "A pair of scissors" is preferred to "a scissors" by about a four-to-one margin in the US (COCA).
• "The scissors" is preferred to "the scissor" by about a thirty-to-one margin in the US (COCA).

Synonyms

• scissor (India)
• (tool used for cutting): pair of scissors; shears
• (rugby): switch

Hyponyms

• (dogfight maneuver): flat scissors, rolling scissors

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

scissors (third-person singular simple present scissorses, present participle scissorsing, simple past and past participle scissorsed)

1. (transitive) Rare form of scissor (“To cut using, or as if using, scissors.”).

Verb

scissors

1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of scissor

Further reading

• Scissors on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Etymology

From French, plural of sécateur, from Latin sec? (“I cut”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?s?k.??t??(?)z/

Noun

secateurs pl (plural only)

1. (chiefly Britain) Small, handheld pruning shears.

Synonyms

• pruning shears

Translations

References

• The Chambers Dictionary, 1998. ?ISBN

Anagrams

• traceuses