How to Use scythe in a Sentence

scythe

1 of 2 noun
  • Matt with his stick; the reaper with his scythe.
    — Big Think, 31 Mar. 2026
  • Rhys said to her, flashing a white grin like a scythe.
    — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025
  • Once the two of us set about attacking weeds along the side of the house, each of us with a big scythe.
    — Literary Hub, 4 Nov. 2025
  • But that’s not to say that the bony guy with the scythe is coming for your TV.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 12 Dec. 2025
  • Not as some awful sort of ghastly skeleton with a scythe in its hand coming to chop us off.
    — Terry Gross, NPR, 15 Jan. 2026
  • Garrett showed up dressed up as the Grim Reaper, replete with a scythe and all.
    — Dan Kadar, USA TODAY, 1 Nov. 2021
  • It is bordered by a playground, tended by a man who cuts back the grass borders with a scythe.
    — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 26 June 2026
  • Kiffin, in many ways, swung the scythe that signaled the spring game’s apparent demise.
    — David Eckert, Austin American Statesman, 13 Mar. 2026
  • Saul passes through its streets in a black cowl and a mask, looking like a scythe-less Grim Reaper.
    — Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 6 June 2022
  • Aatami merely looks at them, points his pickax like the Grim Reaper with his scythe and grunts.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 24 Apr. 2023
  • Meanwhile, the Yari excels at taking down scythe-wielding foes.
    — Gieson Cacho, Mercury News, 26 Sep. 2025
  • The patch shows a large alligator skull with its jaws open wide next to a hooded skeleton holding a scythe.
    — Miami Herald, 11 Mar. 2026
  • Gaiman's grim reaper eschewed a cloak and scythe for a black tank top and a spunky attitude — inspiring many young goths in the process.
    — Christian Holub, EW.com, 4 Aug. 2022
  • The utopia was temporary, its beauty and its small victories whittled away by the scythe of inaction.
    — Hanif Abdurraqib, New Yorker, 17 Apr. 2026
  • Trump’s budget director, Russell Vought, wields the scythe.
    — Lisa Riordan Seville, ProPublica, 17 Oct. 2025
  • The Gay Grim Reaper knocks at your 28-year-old door with a scythe in one hand and a tub of creatine in the other.
    — Samantha Allen, Them., 10 Oct. 2025
  • At the center of it all is Brent Charles’ sinewy Caius Martius Coriolanus, who runs through the play like a human scythe.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
  • Much like Jesse's Service Weapon in the original, Aberrant can morph into multiple kinds of weapons, such as dual swords, an axe, and a scythe.
    — George Yang, Space.com, 22 June 2026
  • That’s Spanish for Saint Death, a scythe-wielding skeleton folk saint popular in Latin America as a guardian of outcasts.
    — Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 2 Nov. 2025
  • In the very rare instances of direct danger, like encountering a particularly nasty beast with huge scythe claws, getting hit only leads to the screen fading out and Yoshi reappearing at the start of the stage.
    — Will Greenwald, PC Magazine, 19 May 2026
  • His maiden first-class — let alone Test — century was confirmed with a tension-lancing scythe over midwicket in the final session, writes Dominic Fifield.
    — Tim Spiers, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
  • Meanwhile, there are already signs that Congress is racing to shield the Orion and its super-rocket from the White House scythes aimed at NASA.
    — Kevin Holden Platt, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
  • The volume is then entrusted to the Rat Queen and her companions, who battle the Rat Reaperess—death herself, a Grim Reaper in a rat head and showgirl bodysuit, who appears onstage each night armed with a scythe.
    — Steve Appleford, SPIN, 29 June 2026

scythe

2 of 2 verb
  • If their press from the front fails, teams can scythe through them with few passes.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 16 Aug. 2025
  • Maksimovic got the ball but scythed down Murphy in the process, and the referee showed a straight red card.
    — USA TODAY, 5 Sep. 2017
  • The virus is scything through its aged population and its hospitals are straining from a rush of patients.
    — Stephen Collinson, CNN, 12 Mar. 2020
  • But its explosive power gives it the muscle of a gas-engine machine for mowing down the tall stuff and scything through weeds and saplings.
    — Roy Berendson, Popular Mechanics, 18 Mar. 2020
  • Researchers drilling ice cores have been astounded to find more and more streams of water rushing below the sheet—a river of water scything through ice.
    — Julie Cart, Orange County Register, 26 Apr. 2017
  • The hydrofoils position the boat above the majority of waves, and the carbon stilts are slim enough to scythe through the water like tiny dolphins.
    — WIRED, 14 Mar. 2023
  • One fun way to encourage kids to get out into the heart of a meadow area and witness its wildlife and plants up close is to mow or scythe a maze into it that kids can run or walk through.
    — Elizabeth Waddington, Treehugger, 27 Mar. 2023
  • Most people were short and slight due to childhood malnutrition, and diseases scythed regularly through their weak immune systems.
    — Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
  • Arguments about states’ rights or fantasies of antebellum gentility were scythed by her storytelling.
    — Ron Charles, Washington Post, 6 Aug. 2019
  • In the final minute of the contest, Houghton was scythed down by a brutal Takounda lunge, the striker catching her opponent with studs on the upper shin.
    — SI.com, 23 June 2019
  • Ribery, who has spent a decade at Bayern, rolled back the years by scything through Leverkusen's defence and slamming home Bayern's superb second goal.
    — Afp, chicagotribune.com, 12 Jan. 2018
  • Prop Moody's marauding run set the tone before Barrett scythed his way through the Welsh defence to dot down under the posts on 13 minutes.
    — Daniel Gallan, CNN, 1 Nov. 2019
  • His departure relieves him from having to scythe his way to increasingly unrealistic targets.
    — Stephen Wilmot, WSJ, 25 July 2017
  • Their manual shifters scythe through the gates without resistance, and their dual-clutch automatics are lightning quick yet also flawlessly behaved around town.
    — Rich Ceppos, Car and Driver, 17 Nov. 2021
  • Covid-19 continues to scythe through the halls of long-term care facilities despite an array of safety measures and bans on visitors, put in place months ago to slow the devastation.
    — New York Times, 30 Oct. 2020
  • Having been put through on goal in first-half stoppage time, Sane was scythed down by Cardiff midfielder Joe Bennett, who was fortunate to receive just a yellow card.
    — USA TODAY, 28 Jan. 2018
  • As the changing patterns scythe down yields and stall output, rising Indian domestic consumption is expected to shrink exports from the world's second largest tea producer.
    — Tora Agarwala, Reuters, 29 Aug. 2025
  • The game began in untidy fashion, youngster Ampadu scything through Defoe a couple of minutes into the contest, earning himself an early yellow card.
    — SI.com, 20 Dec. 2017
  • Later in the half, Marco Bizot was sent off for scything down Jacob Murphy after charging out of his goal with Newcastle on a fast break.
    — George Caulkin, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2026
  • The impressive Johan Manzambi’s scything run set up Breel Embolo for a 10th-minute opener.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 4 July 2026
  • The impressive Johan Manzambi’s scything run set up Breel Embolo for a 10th-minute opener.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 5 July 2026
  • Yet however valid Bourne’s reasons for scything Lippmann and the liberal intellectuals were, there was also something juvenile about his attack.
    — Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 8 Aug. 2017
  • After Manchester United scythed their staff, Liverpool are probably the Premier League’s biggest employer.
    — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
  • That is before Salma Paralluelo scythed through the French side’s defence not once but twice between the 90th and 93rd minutes to double Barcelona’s advantage, despite the stadium announcer even kindly opting to reduce the total number of injury-time minutes from seven to five.
    — Megan Feringa, New York Times, 23 May 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'scythe.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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