Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

scissors

/ˈsɪzɚz/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.58 in modern English

Syllables: sciss-ors
IPA: /ˈsɪzɚz/

10

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

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.

Countable

noun

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.

Uncountable

noun

An instance of the above dogfighting maneuver.

Countable

noun

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.

Countable

noun

A method of skating with one foot significantly in front of the other.

Countable

noun

An exercise in which the legs are switched back and forth, suggesting the motion of scissors.

Countable

noun

A scissors hold.

Countable

noun

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.

Example Sentences

"Near-synonym: shears"
"Those scissors are sharp."
"That scissors is sharp."
"Scissors are used to cut the flowers."
"Use scissors to cut them if you don't have proper shears."
"Roses will last longer if a knife rather than a scissors is used to cut the blooms."

Etymology

From Middle English sisours (attested since 1350–1400), from Old French cisoirs, from Late Latin cīsōria, plural of cīsōrium (“cutting tool”); from Latin word root -cīsus (compare excise) or caesus, past participle of caedō (“to cut”). Partially displaced native Old English sċēara (“scissors, shears”), whence shears. Doublet of chisel. The current spelling, from the 16th century, is due to association with Medieval Latin scissor (“tailor”), from Latin carrying the meaning “carver, cutter”, from scindō (“to split”).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: sisours, cisoirs, cīsōria, -, scissor

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈsɪzɚz/
British English: /ˈsɪzəz/

Usage

Inflected Forms

scissor (attributive) cizars (alternative, obsolete) cizers (alternative, obsolete) scissars (alternative, archaic) sissors (alternative, obsolete) scissorses (present, singular) scissorsing (participle, present) scissorsed (participle, past) scissorsed (past)

Derived Forms

scissor scissorsbill scissorstail

Phrases

agrarian scissors crash scissors dummy scissors elbow scissors genetic scissors grafting scissors marble scissors Mayo scissors

Frequently Paired Words

scissorial

Synonyms

shears scissor pair of scissors switch scissors hold scissor hold scissor grip scissors grip

Questions

How do you pronounce scissors?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈsɪzɚz/.
What does scissors mean?: 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.
Where does scissors come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce scissors

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “scissors”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈsɪzɚz/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “scissors”.
Repeat and practice — Say “scissors” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.