snath

• snythe, snathe, snaith, sneath, sneathe, etc.
• sned, sneed

From a variant of snead, itself from Middle English snede, from Old English snǣd (“the shaft or handle of a scythe”), akin to Old English snīþan (“to cut”). More at snithe.

• IPA^(key): /snæθ/
• Rhymes: -æθ

snath (plural snaths)

1. The shaft of a scythe.
   • 1997, Charles Frazier, chapter 3, in Cold Mountain, London: Hodder and Stoughton, page 71:

     It felt natural to him, holding a scythe in his hands and working with it again […] but the blade clashed on the stone of the foundation and threw a spray of white sparks and broke off close so that he was left holding but the snath.

• haft, the handle of any of various tools
• helve, the handle of any of various tools

• OED 2nd edition 1989

• Hants, NHTSA, Thans, ha'nts, hants, hasn't, sha'n't, shan't, shant