/ · 1894 Brewer’s · M · Measure Swords (To)
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To fight a duel with swords. In such cases the seconds measure the swords to see that both are of one length.
“So we measured swords and parted.”—Shakespeare: As You Like It, v. 4.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
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