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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Sickle \Sic"kle\, noun [OE. sikel, AS. sicol; akin to D. sikkel, G. sichel, OHG. sihhila, Dan. segel, segl, L. secula, fr. secare to cut; or perhaps from L. secula. See {Saw} a cutting instrument.]
1. A reaping instrument consisting of a steel blade curved into the form of a hook, and having a handle fitted on a tang. The sickle has one side of the blade notched, so as always to sharpen with a serrated edge. Cf. {Reaping hook}, under {Reap}.
When corn has once felt the sickle, it has no more benefit from the sunshine. --Shak.
2. (Astron.) A group of stars in the constellation Leo. See Illust. of {Leo}.
{Sickle pod} (Bot.), a kind of rock cress ({Arabis Canadensis}) having very long curved pods.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
sickle
noun: an edge tool for cutting grass or crops; has a curved blade and a short handle [syn: {reaping hook}, {reap hook}]
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Sickle of the Egyptians resembled that in modern use. The ears of corn were cut with it near the top of the straw. There was also a sickle used for warlike purposes, more correctly, however, called a pruning-hook (Deut. 16:9; Jer. 50:16, marg., "scythe;" Joel 3:13; Mark 4:29).
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