n. [ OE. blade, blad, AS. blæd leaf; akin to OS., D., Dan., & Sw. blad, Icel. blað, OHG. blat, G. blatt, and perh. to L. folium, Gr. fy`llon. The root is prob. the same as that of AS. blōwan, E. blow, to blossom. See Blow to blossom, and cf. Foil leaf of metal. ] [ 1913 Webster ] 1. Properly, the leaf, or flat part of the leaf, of any plant, especially of gramineous plants. The term is sometimes applied to the spire of grasses. [ 1913 Webster ] The crimson dulse . . . with its waving blade. Percival. [ 1913 Webster ] First the blade, then ear, after that the full corn in the ear. Mark iv. 28. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. The cutting part of an instrument; as, the blade of a knife or a sword. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. The broad part of an oar; also, one of the projecting arms of a screw propeller. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. The scapula or shoulder blade. [ 1913 Webster ] 5. pl. (Arch.) The principal rafters of a roof. Weale. [ 1913 Webster ] 6. pl. (Com.) The four large shell plates on the sides, and the five large ones of the middle, of the carapace of the sea turtle, which yield the best tortoise shell. De Colange. [ 1913 Webster ] 7. A sharp-witted, dashing, wild, or reckless, fellow; -- a word of somewhat indefinite meaning. [ 1913 Webster ] He saw a turnkey in a trice
Fetter a troublesome blade. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ] 8. The flat part of the tongue immediately behind the tip, or point. [ 1913 Webster ] “Lower blade” implies, of course, the lower instead of the upper surface of the tongue. H. Sweet. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ] | 
