An object used for cutting things with two sharp blades that move when you press them.
Scissors are something we use every day, but it's not always obvious what they do. You might have scissors on your desk at work or school to cut open packages and documents. At home, you probably have a pair of scissors in the kitchen or sewing room for tasks like cutting vegetables or trimming fabric. When someone asks you to "get the scissors," they're usually expecting you to grab something that looks like two crossed metal blades with handles attached.
How common is "scissors"?
Word scissors is considered uncommon in modern English. It has a balanced usage among all categories: speech, fiction, newspapers and academic texts.
Definitions
noun
(countable, usually construed as plural) 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.
Example: Near-synonym: shears
(uncountable, aviation, military, with the) 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.
(countable, aviation, military) An instance of the above dogfighting maneuver.
(countable, rugby) 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.
Example: They executed a perfect scissors.
(countable, skating) A method of skating with one foot significantly in front of the other.
(countable, gymnastics) An exercise in which the legs are switched back and forth, suggesting the motion of scissors.
(countable, wrestling) A scissors hold.
(rock paper scissors) 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.
