What is "to put to the sword"

Put \Put\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Put; p. pr. & vb. n. Putting.] [AS. potian to thrust: cf. Dan. putte to put, to put into, Fries. putje; perh. akin to W. pwtio to butt, poke, thrust; cf. also Gael. put to push, thrust, and E. potter, v. i.]

1. To move in any direction; to impel; to thrust; to push; -- nearly obsolete, except with adverbs, as with by (to put by = to thrust aside; to divert); or with forth (to put forth = to thrust out).

   His chief designs are . . . to put thee by from thy spiritual employment.
   --Jer. Taylor.

2. To bring to a position or place; to place; to lay; to set; figuratively, to cause to be or exist in a specified relation, condition, or the like; to bring to a stated mental or moral condition; as, to put one in fear; to put a theory in practice; to put an enemy to fight.

   This present dignity, In which that I have put you.
   --Chaucer.

   I will put enmity between thee and the woman.
   --Gen. iii. 15.

   He put no trust in his servants.
   --Job iv. 18.

   When God into the hands of their deliverer Puts invincible might.
   --Milton.

   In the mean time other measures were put in operation.
   --Sparks.

3. To attach or attribute; to assign; as, to put a wrong construction on an act or expression.

4. To lay down; to give up; to surrender. [Obs.]

   No man hath more love than this, that a man put his life for his friends.
   --Wyclif (John xv. 13).

5. To set before one for judgment, acceptance, or rejection; to bring to the attention; to offer; to state; to express; figuratively, to assume; to suppose; -- formerly sometimes followed by that introducing a proposition; as, to put a question; to put a case.

   Let us now put that ye have leave.
   --Chaucer.

   Put the perception and you put the mind.
   --Berkeley.

   These verses, originally Greek, were put in Latin.
   --Milton.

   All this is ingeniously and ably put.
   --Hare.

6. To incite; to entice; to urge; to constrain; to oblige.

   These wretches put us upon all mischief.
   --Swift.

   Put me not use the carnal weapon in my own defense.
   --Sir W. Scott.

   Thank him who puts me, loath, to this revenge.
   --Milton.

7. To throw or cast with a pushing motion ``overhand,'' the hand being raised from the shoulder; a practice in athletics; as, to put the shot or weight.

8. (Mining) To convey coal in the mine, as from the working to the tramway. --Raymond. Put case, formerly, an elliptical expression for, put or suppose the case to be. Put case that the soul after departure from the body may live. --Bp. Hall. To put about (Naut.), to turn, or change the course of, as a ship. To put away.

   1. To renounce; to discard; to expel.

   2. To divorce. To put back.

      1. To push or thrust backwards; hence, to hinder; to delay.

      2. To refuse; to deny.

         Coming from thee, I could not put him back.
         --Shak.

   3. To set, as the hands of a clock, to an earlier hour.

   4. To restore to the original place; to replace. To put by.

      1. To turn, set, or thrust, aside. ``Smiling put the question by.''
         --Tennyson.

      2. To lay aside; to keep; to sore up; as, to put by money. To put down.

         1. To lay down; to deposit; to set down.

         2. To lower; to diminish; as, to put down prices.

      3. To deprive of position or power; to put a stop to; to suppress; to abolish; to confute; as, to put down rebellion or traitors.

         Mark, how a plain tale shall put you down.
         --Shak.

         Sugar hath put down the use of honey.
         --Bacon.

      4. To subscribe; as, to put down one's name. To put forth.

         1. To thrust out; to extend, as the hand; to cause to come or push out; as, a tree puts forth leaves.

         2. To make manifest; to develop; also, to bring into action; to exert; as, to put forth strength.

         3. To propose, as a question, a riddle, and the like.

         4. To publish, as a book. To put forward.

            1. To advance to a position of prominence or responsibility; to promote.

            2. To cause to make progress; to aid.

            3. To set, as the hands of a clock, to a later hour. To put in.

               1. To introduce among others; to insert; sometimes, to introduce with difficulty; as, to put in a word while others are discoursing.

               2. (Naut.) To conduct into a harbor, as a ship.

               3. (Law) To place in due form before a court; to place among the records of a court.
                  --Burrill.

            4. (Med.) To restore, as a dislocated part, to its place. To put off.

               1. To lay aside; to discard; as, to put off a robe; to put off mortality. ``Put off thy shoes from off thy feet.''
                  --Ex. iii. 5.

               2. To turn aside; to elude; to disappoint; to frustrate; to baffle.

                  I hoped for a demonstration, but Themistius hoped to put me off with an harangue.
                  --Boyle.

                  We might put him off with this answer.
                  --Bentley.

               3. To delay; to defer; to postpone; as, to put off repentance.

               4. To get rid of; to dispose of; especially, to pass fraudulently; as, to put off a counterfeit note, or an ingenious theory.

   5. To push from land; as, to put off a boat. To put on or To put upon.

      1. To invest one's self with, as clothes; to assume. ``Mercury . . . put on the shape of a man.''
         --L'Estrange.

      2. To impute (something) to; to charge upon; as, to put blame on or upon another.

      3. To advance; to promote. [Obs.] ``This came handsomely to put on the peace.''
         --Bacon.

      4. To impose; to inflict. ``That which thou puttest on me, will I bear.''
         --2 Kings xviii. 14.

      5. To apply; as, to put on workmen; to put on steam.

   6. To deceive; to trick. ``The stork found he was put upon.''
      --L'Estrange.

   7. To place upon, as a means or condition; as, he put him upon bread and water. ``This caution will put them upon considering.''
      --Locke.

   8. (Law) To rest upon; to submit to; as, a defendant puts himself on or upon the country. --Burrill. To put out.

      1. To eject; as, to put out and intruder.

      2. To put forth; to shoot, as a bud, or sprout.

      3. To extinguish; as, to put out a candle, light, or fire.

      4. To place at interest; to loan; as, to put out funds.

      5. To provoke, as by insult; to displease; to vex; as, he was put out by my reply. [Colloq.]

      6. To protrude; to stretch forth; as, to put out the hand.

      7. To publish; to make public; as, to put out a pamphlet.

      8. To confuse; to disconcert; to interrupt; as, to put one out in reading or speaking.

   9. (Law) To open; as, to put out lights, that is, to open or cut windows.
      --Burrill.

   10. (Med.) To place out of joint; to dislocate; as, to put out the ankle.

   11. To cause to cease playing, or to prevent from playing longer in a certain inning, as in base ball.

   12. to engage in sexual intercourse; -- used of women; as, she's got a great bod, but she doesn't put out. To put over.

       1. To place (some one) in authority over; as, to put a general over a division of an army.

       2. To refer.

          For the certain knowledge of that truth I put you o'er to heaven and to my mother.
          --Shak.

       3. To defer; to postpone; as, the court put over the cause to the next term.

       4. To transfer (a person or thing) across; as, to put one over the river. To put the hand to or To put the hand unto.

          1. To take hold of, as of an instrument of labor; as, to put the hand to the plow; hence, to engage in (any task or affair); as, to put one's hand to the work.

          2. To take or seize, as in theft. ``He hath not put his hand unto his neighbor's goods.'' --Ex. xxii. 11. To put through, to cause to go through all conditions or stages of a progress; hence, to push to completion; to accomplish; as, he put through a measure of legislation; he put through a railroad enterprise. [U.S.] To put to.

             1. To add; to unite; as, to put one sum to another.

             2. To refer to; to expose; as, to put the safety of the state to hazard. ``That dares not put it to the touch.''
                --Montrose.

          3. To attach (something) to; to harness beasts to. --Dickens. To put to a stand, to stop; to arrest by obstacles or difficulties. To put to bed.

             1. To undress and place in bed, as a child.

             2. To deliver in, or to make ready for, childbirth. To put to death, to kill. To put together, to attach; to aggregate; to unite in one. To put this and that (or two and two) together, to draw an inference; to form a correct conclusion. To put to it, to distress; to press hard; to perplex; to give difficulty to. ``O gentle lady, do not put me to 't.'' --Shak. To put to rights, to arrange in proper order; to settle or compose rightly. To put to the sword, to kill with the sword; to slay. To put to trial, or on trial, to bring to a test; to try. To put trust in, to confide in; to repose confidence in. To put up.

                1. To pass unavenged; to overlook; not to punish or resent; to put up with; as, to put up indignities. [Obs.] ``Such national injuries are not to be put up.''
                   --Addison.

                2. To send forth or upward; as, to put up goods for sale.

          4. To start from a cover, as game. ``She has been frightened; she has been put up.''
             --C. Kingsley.

       5. To hoard. ``Himself never put up any of the rent.''
          --Spelman.

       6. To lay side or preserve; to pack away; to store; to pickle; as, to put up pork, beef, or fish.

       7. To place out of sight, or away; to put in its proper place; as, put up that letter.
          --Shak.

       8. To incite; to instigate; -- followed by to; as, he put the lad up to mischief.

       9. To raise; to erect; to build; as, to put up a tent, or a house.

       10. To lodge; to entertain; as, to put up travelers.

           To put up a job, to arrange a plot. [Slang]

           Syn: To place; set; lay; cause; produce; propose; state.

           Usage: Put, Lay, Place, Set. These words agree in the idea of fixing the position of some object, and are often used interchangeably. To put is the least definite, denoting merely to move to a place. To place has more particular reference to the precise location, as to put with care in a certain or proper place. To set or to lay may be used when there is special reference to the position of the object.

Sword \Sword\ (s[=o]rd), n. [OE. swerd, AS. sweord; akin to OFries. swerd, swird, D. zwaard, OS. swerd, OHG. swert, G. schwert, Icel. sver[eth], Sw. sv["a]rd, Dan. sv[ae]rd; of uncertain origin.]

1. An offensive weapon, having a long and usually sharp-pointed blade with a cutting edge or edges. It is the general term, including the small sword, rapier, saber, scimiter, and many other varieties.

2. Hence, the emblem of judicial vengeance or punishment, or of authority and power.

   He [the ruler] beareth not the sword in vain.
   --Rom. xiii. 4.

   She quits the balance, and resigns the sword.
   --Dryden.

3. Destruction by the sword, or in battle; war; dissension.

   I came not to send peace, but a sword.
   --Matt. x. 3

4. 4. The military power of a country.

   He hath no more authority over the sword than over the law.
   --Milton.

5. (Weaving) One of the end bars by which the lay of a hand loom is suspended. Sword arm, the right arm. Sword bayonet, a bayonet shaped somewhat like a sword, and which can be used as a sword. Sword bearer, one who carries his master's sword; an officer in London who carries a sword before the lord mayor when he goes abroad. Sword belt, a belt by which a sword is suspended, and borne at the side. Sword blade, the blade, or cutting part, of a sword. Sword cane, a cane which conceals the blade of a sword or dagger, as in a sheath. Sword dance.

   1. A dance in which swords are brandished and clashed together by the male dancers.
      --Sir W. Scott.

   2. A dance performed over swords laid on the ground, but without touching them.

      Sword fight, fencing; a combat or trial of skill with swords; swordplay.

      Sword grass. (Bot.) See Gladen.

      Sword knot, a ribbon tied to the hilt of a sword.

      Sword law, government by the sword, or by force; violence.
      --Milton.

      Sword lily. (Bot.) See Gladiolus.

      Sword mat (Naut.), a mat closely woven of yarns; -- so called from a wooden implement used in its manufacture.

      Sword shrimp (Zo["o]l.), a European shrimp ( Pasiph[ae]a sivado) having a very thin, compressed body.

      Sword stick, a sword cane.

      To measure swords with one. See under Measure, v. t.

      To put to the sword. See under Put.