五ご分ぶ試だめし

noun

killing by inches; testing a sword's sharpness on a corpse

Historical term for a practice in the Edo period where a swordsman would test the sharpness of a blade by cutting a corpse, often a criminal's, in a series of cuts. Rarely used outside historical or literary contexts.

• 江え戸ど時じ代だいには、刀かたなの切きれ味あじを試ためすために五ご分ぶ試だめしが行おこなわれた。

  In the Edo period, killing by inches was carried out to test the sharpness of a sword.