What does ploughshare mean?
A ploughshare is the blade of a plough, the agricultural implement that cuts into soil and turns it over as the plough moves across a field. In British English it is written ploughshare; US English commonly uses plowshare. Although the word is chiefly practical and agricultural, it also carries a strong symbolic association with peace, productive work, and the transformation of weapons into farming tools. The best-known figurative expression is turning swords into ploughshares, which presents peaceful labour as an alternative to war. This contrast gives the word an unusually memorable place in public language: the same small metal component that helps cultivate the land can stand for an entire ideal of peaceful society. Outside technical or historical contexts, it is usually encountered in symbolic expressions rather than ordinary descriptions of farm work.
The blade of a plough that cuts and turns the soil.
"The ploughshare became clogged with wet earth."
Also spelled plowshare in US English.
A symbolic reference to peaceful labour or agriculture, especially in contrast with war.
"The leader urged the nation to turn its swords into ploughshares."
This figurative sense is chiefly associated with biblical and political language.
The usual plural form; plowshares is the US spelling.
"The farmyard contained several old ploughshares."
The famous image of turning swords into ploughshares replaces weapons with tools of cultivation, making peace feel productive rather than merely passive.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does ploughshare come from?
Ploughshare is a compound formed within English from plough and share. Both elements are Germanic in origin: plough descends from Old English plōh, related to forms such as Middle Dutch ploeg and German Pflug, while share in this sense continues Old English scearu, a term associated with a ploughshare and also with a cutting tool. The compound developed in its literal agricultural sense before being used in biblical and figurative language to symbolize the conversion of instruments of war into peaceful tools.
Related word forms
How ploughshare is actually used
The British spelling is ploughshare and the American spelling is plowshare. The word is fairly technical when referring to the implement, but it is also familiar from figurative religious and political expressions.
Easily confused with ploughshare
A plough is the whole agricultural implement, whereas a ploughshare is the specific blade that cuts and turns the soil.
A coulter is the vertical knife on a plough that slices the soil ahead of the ploughshare, while the ploughshare itself turns the furrow.
Plowshare is the US spelling of the British word ploughshare; both refer to the plough's soil-cutting blade.