bayonet

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“
No pause had been made for firing for the bayonet was the weapon our men trusted.

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Definitions (16)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun A blade adapted to fit the muzzle end of a rifle and used as a weapon in close combat.
  2. transitive verb To prod, stab, or kill with this weapon.
  3. Word History
    It is not unusual for a word to come from a place name. Cheddar, from the name of a village in southwest England; hamburger, after Hamburg, Germany; and mayonnaise, possibly from Mahón, the capital of Minorca, are often found together on our tables. The word bayonet, a very undomestic sort of word, also derives from a place name, that of Bayonne, a town in southwest France where the weapon was first made. The French word baïonnette could also mean "a dagger or a knife,” and the English word bayonet is first found in 1672 with this meaning. The word is first recorded in its present sense in 1704.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (9)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

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Examples (50)

  • "Use the bayonet Ham tried the bayonet, but the bayonet was too dull to cut anything Outside in the hall, the Dutchman stopped shouting Throughout the inn, men were running toward the hall and the room The Dutchman, triumphant now, shouted, "Savage! —  140 - Jiu San
  • Eventually the battlefield remained in French hands In this hand to hand fighting, where the bayonet was almost the only weapon used, our men, more adroit and agile than the giant Russians, had a great advantage; so the enemy losses amounted to some four thousand five hundred men, while ours were three thousand only. —  The Memoirs of General the Baron de Marbot
  • Where men may speak out, they demand it; where the bayonet is at their throats, they pray for it. —  Select Speeches of Daniel Webster
  • Weaponry advances in respect to 'smart' bombs, missiles, and even bullets, is a laudable attempt to revise the adage: "A bullet is a fool, but the bayonet is a fine fellow". —  Propeller Most Popular Stories
  • First, commanders consider the bayonet too dangerous to use (soldiers might hurt themselves), and second, the bayonet is accountable property and you'll be paying for it if you break (read use) it. —  Kit Up
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Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. French baïonnette, after Bayonne, a town of southwest France.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from French baïonnette, formerly bayonnette, a small flat pocket-dagger, or a knife hung at the girdle, like a dagger, now a bayonet, = Spanish bayoneta = Italian baionetta, a bayonet, usually derived from Bayonne, in France, because bayonets are said to have been first made there (Bayonne, Spanish Bayona, is said to mean ‘good harbor,’ from Basque baia, harbor (see bay), + ona, good); but cf. F. “bayonnier, as arbalestier [see arbalister]; an old word” (Cotgrave), from bayon, baïon, the arrow or shaft of a crossbow.
  2. from bayonet, n.
 

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/ˈbeɪənɛt/
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