backsword

Etymology

back + sword

noun

  1. A sword with one sharp edge.
    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. 1884, Robert F. Burton, The Book of the Sword, page 140
  2. (UK, dated) A stick with a basket handle, used in rustic amusements.
  3. (UK, dated) The game in which the stick is used.
    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 1842, The Asiatic Journal[…]

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