he fleshed his sword
Preserved but no longer current.
Used it for the first time. Men fleshed in cruelty — i.e. initiated or used to it. A sportsman's expression. A sports- man allows a young dog or hawk to have the first game it catches for its own eating, thus at the same time rewarding it and encouraging its taste for blood. This "flesh" is the first it has tasted, and fleshing its tooth thus gives the creature a craving for similar food.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “he fleshed his sword” mean?
Used it for the first time. Men fleshed in cruelty — i.e. initiated or used to it. A sportsman's expression. A sports- man allows a young dog or hawk to have the first game it catches for its own eating, thus at the same time rewarding it and encouraging its taste for blood. This "flesh" is the first it has tasted, and fleshing its tooth thus gives the creature a craving for similar food.
Is “he fleshed his sword” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.