What does plowshare mean?
A plowshare is the pointed blade attached to a plow, designed to slice into the ground, loosen the soil, and help form the furrow in which seed can be planted. It is an essential working component of traditional plowing and is often imagined as part of the plow’s iron framework. The word also has a formal figurative meaning: “the plowshare of the mind” refers to intellectual power or clear thinking applied to difficult subjects. Its best-known cultural association comes from the biblical phrases “swords into plowshares” and “plowshares into swords,” which contrast the work of war with that of cultivating the land. In modern North American English, plowshare is the standard spelling; British English normally uses ploughshare. Although the agricultural sense remains its principal meaning, the metaphorical sense gives the word a distinctive place in political, religious, and literary language.
The blade of a plow that cuts into and turns the soil.
"The plowshare broke through the frozen surface of the field."
This is the word’s standard agricultural and technical sense.
The mind or intellectual power considered as an instrument for understanding and resolving difficult questions.
"The inquiry tested the plowshare of even the most skeptical investigators."
This figurative sense is formal and literary rather than everyday usage.
The standard plural is “plowshares”; the British variant has the plural “ploughshares.”
"Freshly sharpened plowshares gleamed along the edge of the shed."
From battlefield imagery to fieldwork, the plowshare is best known for the biblical vision of turning swords into plowshares.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does plowshare come from?
Plowshare is a compound formed from “plow” and “share,” with “share” used in its older sense of a cutting blade on a plow. “Plow” descends from Old English plōg, while the relevant sense of “share” is related to Old English scear, meaning a cutting implement or plowshare. The compound became established in Middle English, when plowing was central to agricultural practice across Britain and northern Europe.
Related word forms
How plowshare is actually used
As a physical object, the term is primarily agricultural and technical. The figurative sense is formal, literary, and comparatively uncommon in everyday speech. In British English, ploughshare is the usual spelling.
Easily confused with plowshare
Ploughshare is the standard British spelling of the same word; plowshare is chiefly used in North American English.