overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

scissors.

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.

8 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈsɪzəz/Received-Pronunciation/ˈsɪzɚz/Canada, General-American/ˈsɪzəz/Australia/ˈsəzəz/New-Zealand
  1. 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 · plural · plural-only · usually
    Those scissors are sharp.
    That scissors is sharp.
  2. 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.

    plural · plural-only · uncountable
  3. An instance of the above dogfighting maneuver.

    countable · plural · plural-only
  4. 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 · plural · plural-only
    They executed a perfect scissors.
  5. A method of skating with one foot significantly in front of the other.

    countable · plural · plural-only
  6. An exercise in which the legs are switched back and forth, suggesting the motion of scissors.

    countable · plural · plural-only
  7. A scissors hold.

    countable · plural · plural-only
  8. 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.

    plural · plural-only
Where this word comes from

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”).

intj/ˈsɪzəz/Received-Pronunciation/ˈsɪzɚz/Canada, General-American/ˈsɪzəz/Australia/ˈsəzəz/New-Zealand
  1. Cry of anguish or frustration.

    dated
Where this word comes from

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”).

noun/ˈsɪzəz/Received-Pronunciation/ˈsɪzɚz/Canada, General-American/ˈsɪzəz/Australia/ˈsəzəz/New-Zealand
  1. plural of scissor

    form-of · plural · rare
Where this word comes from

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”).

verb/ˈsɪzəz/Received-Pronunciation/ˈsɪzɚz/Canada, General-American/ˈsɪzəz/Australia/ˈsəzəz/New-Zealand
  1. Rare form of scissor (“to cut using, or as if using, scissors”).

    form-of · rare · transitive
Where this word comes from

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”).

verb/ˈsɪzəz/Received-Pronunciation/ˈsɪzɚz/Canada, General-American/ˈsɪzəz/Australia/ˈsəzəz/New-Zealand
  1. third-person singular simple present indicative of scissor

    form-of · indicative · present · singular · third-person
Where this word comes from

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”).

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

scissors has 8 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

scissors studioscissors workshello, scissors

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.