swingle
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
Swingle \Swin"gle\, v. i. [Freq. of swing.]
1.To dangle; to wave hanging. [Obs.] --Johnson. [1913 Webster]
2.To swing for pleasure. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] [1913 Webster]
1.To clean, as flax, by beating it with a swingle, so as to separate the coarse parts and the woody substance from it; to scutch. [1913 Webster]
2.To beat off the tops of without pulling up the roots; -- said of weeds. [Prov. Eng.] --Forby. [1913 Webster]
Swingle \Swin"gle\, n. A wooden instrument like a large knife, about two feet long, with one thin edge, used for beating and cleaning flax; a scutcher; -- called also swingling knife, swingling staff, and swingling wand. [1913 Webster]