vibroblade n.

a weapon or tool having a blade that vibrates rapidly

Weaponry

  • 1940 R. A. Heinlein If This Goes On— in Astounding Science-Fiction 18/1 page image Robert A. Heinlein

    He won’t come to…. I slipped a vibroblade between his ribs.

  • 1962 R. Garrett Unwise Child (1963) 14

    A vibroblade is a nasty weapon. Originally designed as a surgeon’s tool, its special steel blade moves in and out of the heavy hilt at speeds from two hundred to two thousand vibrations per second, depending on the size and the use to which it is to be put.

  • 1979 B. Daley Han Solo's Revenge 59

    Han identified it as some sort of vibroblade, perhaps a butcher’s tool or surgeon’s instrument that the weapons scanners would register as an industrial implement. It had been home-altered to include a large blade, and its haft was fitted with a bulkier power pack. The blade, half again as long as Han’s hand, was difficult to see, vibrating at an incredible rate. It would cut through flesh, bone, and most other materials with little or no resistance.

  • 1991 A. McCaffrey Pegasus in Flight (1992) 178 Anne McCaffrey

    She got out the vibro-blade…and sheered [sic] off two screws.

  • 1999 D. Weber What Price Dreams in Worlds of Honor (2000) 155 David Weber

    She was the youngest person ever to discover an alien sentient species. She is also the only human ever to face a hexapuma armed only with a vibroblade belt knife and survive.

  • 2002 W. C. Dietz Earthrise vii. 369

    Small two-shot .22 Magnum derringers obtained from the humans served as backup weapons—as did the newly released vibro blades.

Research requirements

antedating 1940
Earliest cite

R. A. Heinlein 'If This Goes On--'
Research History
Dan Tilque submitted a cite from Robert Heinlein's "Methuselah's Children"; Mike Christie verified it in the original 1941 magazine appearance.
Larry Headlund identified and Mike Christie located a 1940 cite in Robert Heinlein's "If This Goes On--".
Ethan Merritt identified and Mike Christie located a cite from a 1963 reprint of Randall Garrett's "Unwise Child".
Enoch Forrester located and Edward Bornstein confirmed a cite in a book club edition of Brian Daley's 1979 "Han Solo's Revenge".
Katrina Campbell submitted a cite from a 1992 reprint of Anne McCaffrey's 1991 "Pegasus in Flight".
Malcolm Farmer submitted a cite from a 2000 reprint of David Weber's 1999 "What Price Dreams?".
Douglas Winston submitted a cite for "vibro blade" from a 2003 reprint of William C. Dietz's "Earthrise".

Last modified 2020-12-16 04:08:47
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.