The sickle is among the oldest harvesting tools, designed to cut handfuls of cereal stalks close to the ground. Its compact crescent shape makes it immediately recognisable in agricultural, mythological, and political imagery. In poetry, it represents harvest, labour, time, mortality, and the cutting down of life at ripeness. Unlike the broad sweep of the scythe, the sickle suggests close, repeated handwork. Its crescent form may also invite associations with the moon, cyclical time, and revolutionary emblems.

A sickle is a short-handled tool with a curved blade used one-handed to cut handfuls of grain or grass. It predates the scythe and requires close, repeated labour near the crop. Its crescent shape encourages comparison with the moon, while its cutting action gives it associations with harvest, mortality, and political labour movements. Related terms include reaping hook, scythe, harvest, grain, sheaf, crescent, reaper, and blade.