backsword

back +‎ sword

backsword (plural backswords)

1. A sword with one sharp edge.
   • 1884, Robert F. Burton, The Book of the Sword, page 140:

     It is a thick, heavy backsword, eighteen inches long, with a bevel where the point should be, worn at the waist in a half-scabbard of wood, and used for digging as well as killing.

2. (Britain, dated) A stick with a basket handle, used in rustic amusements.
3. (Britain, dated) The game in which the stick is used.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

• (stick with basket handle): singlestick

• backswordman

• backwords