at half-sword

adjective

fighting a close fight, closer than a sword's length to one's opponents.

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Meanings

adjectiveat half-sword (not comparable)
  1. archaicnot comparablerarefighting a close fight, closer than a sword's length to one's opponents.

    I am a rogue, if I were not at half-sword with a dozen of them two hours together. I have 'scaped by miracle. I am eight times thrust through the doublet, four through the hose; my buckler cut through and through; my sword hack'd like a hand-saw

    c. 1623, William Shakespeare, The First Part of King Henry the Fourth
Cite this entry
APA

at half-sword. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/at%20half-sword

MLA

“at half-sword.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/at%20half-sword. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “at half-sword,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/at%20half-sword.

Source: at half-sword on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.