plowshares
Soil-turning implements
A plowshare is the cutting blade of a plow, the part that slices into the soil.
The word appears most often in the biblical phrase beat swords into plowshares, meaning to convert instruments of war into tools for peaceful agriculture.
This phrase has become a widely used metaphor for disarmament or the transition from conflict to peace.
The spelling ploughshare is standard in British English.
Narrow trench in earth
- harrowToothed soil-breaking implement
- seedbedPrepared ground for sprouting
- discingTilling with rotating blades
- cultivationFostering growth through care
tractor · sower · moldboard · oxen · yoke · furrowing · ridging · hoeing
Reducing or eliminating weapons
- demilitarizationRemoval of armed forces
- pacifismAntiwar moral stance
- nonviolencePrincipled rejection of force
- treatiesFormal agreements between states
diplomacy · reconciliation · ceasefire · truce · denuclearization · accords · peacemaking · conversion
Narrow trench in earth
- earthSoil or electrical grounding
- loamFertile soil mixture
- topsoilNutrient-rich surface earth
- clayMoldable earth for ceramics
silt · turning · tilling · breaking · aeration · trench · humus · compaction
furrow
Narrow trench in earth
- harrowToothed soil-breaking implement
- seedbedPrepared ground for sprouting
- discingTilling with rotating blades
cultivation · tractor · sower · moldboard · oxen · yoke · furrowing · ridging · hoeing · coulter
disarmament
Reducing or eliminating weapons
- demilitarizationRemoval of armed forces
- pacifismAntiwar moral stance
- nonviolencePrincipled rejection of force
treaties · diplomacy · reconciliation · ceasefire · truce · denuclearization · accords · peacemaking · conversion · Isaiah
furrow
Narrow trench in earth
clay · silt · turning · tilling · breaking · aeration · trench · humus · compaction · drainage
transformation
Thorough change in form
- reformImprove by correcting faults
- renewalMaking current again
- reconstructionRebuilding after destruction
biblical · prophecy · Isaiah · Micah · allegory · metaphor · rebirth · postwar · conversion · civilian
- farming historypeasant farming, crop rotation, enclosures, manorialism, threshing machine
- ancient artifactsjade mask, Viking sword, bronze sculptures, antiquities, Roman coin
- metalworkingwelding, casting, forging, smithing, smelting
- peace symbolspeace sign, olive branch, peace dove, dove, white dove
- swords to plowsharesConverting weapons to tools