Scythed

In front of their line, at considerable intervals from each other, were stationed the chariots called scythed chariots; they had scythes projecting obliquely from the axletree, and others under the driver's seat, pointing to the earth, for the purpose of cutting through whatever came in their way; and the design of them was to penetrate and divide the ranks of the ❋ 431 BC-350? BC Xenophon (1844)

The lifetime paratrooper who explained Buford's tactics to me with clinical expertise tears up at the Antietam "Cornfield," where Joseph Hooker's men marched through rows of ripe corn in the mist of a September sunrise and were scythed down just as neatly. ❋ Thomas Donnelly (2011)

Cavalry units from many nations formed the long center of the front line, along with scythed chariot squadrons, thousands of archers, and the elephants the Indians had brought. ❋ Philip Freeman (2011)

Von Trips was dead along with 14 spectators-killed when his Ferrari scythed into the crowd like a helicopter blade. ❋ A.J. Baime (2011)

As the tail of the financial dragon that was born in 2008 has scythed down more triple-A rated borrowers, investors have been left with fewer and fewer unassailable credits. ❋ Stephen Fidler (2011)

He's just scythed through Adriano on the edge of the area, bringing him down, but the referee played the advantage. ❋ Unknown (2012)

Last week I saw burnet roses in the dunes of Northumberland: low scrubby sticks scythed by North Sea winds blooming with constellations of white flowers. ❋ Unknown (2011)

The Persian plan was to use the scythed chariots—deadly vehicles with blades attached to their wheels—first to tear through the enemy and throw the lines into confusion, opening their own hole in the Macedonian army. ❋ Philip Freeman (2011)

On Wednesday, a middle-aged fighter with a blood-smeared pot belly, straddled a gurney dripping blood from a mouthful of shattered teeth and gums scythed by shrapnel. ❋ Charles Levinson (2011)

It's early spring, the olive trees have been cut back in preparation for the fruiting season, and the orchard grass has been scythed, gathered, and lit while still damp, so that white smoke rises in several columns and hangs over the valley. ❋ W.F. Lantry (2011)

Sir Humphrey and the like will be the first to go, for they command the biggest salaries, but underlings can expect to be scythed down later. ❋ Hugh Muir (2010)

The descriptions one has so often seen, of entire ranks and files of British infantry lying dead almost symmetrically, like so much freshly scythed wheat, are all true. ❋ Unknown (2009)

Within five minutes Daniel Gustavo Cartagena, in the No 2 jersey for the mayor's team, scythed into the president after he passed the ball, gashing his right leg. ❋ Rory Carroll (2010)

When the Thracian slave Spartacus fights in the arena, vast crowns of blood fan suddenly from head wounds, arms are scythed off, a man bereft of legs is pitchforked in the back, and blood spots spatter the camera lens. ❋ Unknown (2010)

An orchard can be scythed or strimmed in high summer and kept rough cut with two to three cuts for the remainder of the year. ❋ Unknown (2010)