Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Having two cutting edges: a double-edged blade.
- adj. Effective or capable of being interpreted in two ways: double-edged praise.
- adj. Having a dual purpose: combat troops with a double-edged mission.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Having two edges.
- Figuratively, cutting or working both ways: applied to an argument which makes both for and against the person omploying it, or to any statement having a double meaning.
Wiktionary
- adj. not comparable Describing a blade, such as a sword or knife, that is sharp on both edges.
- adj. comparable, figuratively Describing something that is as dangerous for the user as the one it is used on.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. capable of being interpreted in two usually contradictory ways
Examples
“He referred to the double-edged sword of Hezbollah’s dogma and pragma.”
“#BaltimoreColtsPackers 14 Giants 17, 5:20 2nd quarter Blackburn proves a double-edged sword for the Giants - recording that huge interception on the Packers' last series, but now colliding with his team-mate Kenny Phillips and leaving the latter requiring treatment on the field.”
The Guardian: Green Bay Packers 38 New York Giants 35 - as it happened | Paolo Bandini
“In the two settings that I have studied, the ‘younger the better’ hypothesis can be a double-edged sword.”
“The stories are briskly paced and plot-driven, which turns out to be a double-edged sword.”
“The articles by Gavin Walker, Tom Looser, and Mark Anderson are double-edged swords.”
“Now that the $54-million pavilion is ready for a clutch of celebratory galas this weekend and an official public opening Oct. 2 and 3, it's evident that Govan's decision to arrange for the building to be viewed -- and written about -- at that preliminary stage was, if not a risk, then at least strategically something of a double-edged sword.”
The Huffington Post: LA Times Reviews: LACMA's Resnick Pavillion
“There is a double-edged sword in the conundrum offered by those two questions.”
The Huffington Post: Robert Schwab: End the Wars, Cure Cancer, Create Jobs
“That freedom, of course, can be a double-edged sword, if those moves mean they lose the benefits of broad exposure.”
The Wall Street Journal: 'Go-Anywhere' Funds Struggle To Read the Economic Road Signs
“Boston University's Professor of Religion Stephen Prothero wrote in Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know that ignorance is perilous because religion carries the double-edged sword of being a force for evil while also having the capacity for enormous good.”
The Huffington Post: John L. Esposito: Obama's Trip to India: Sikhs Are Not Muslims
“The former speaker is a double-edged sword for Mr. Santorum.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘double-edged’.
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On edge
words on edge with hedging and alledged deckled edging
on edge edged hed..., hedgehog sledgedog, feckle deckle edge, leading edge, bleeding edge, sand wedge, tedge, straight edge, ledge edge, fledge, feather-edge, selvedge and 22 more...
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