bayonet

[ bey-uh-nit, -net, bey-uh-net ]

noun

1. a daggerlike steel weapon that is attached to or at the muzzle of a gun and used for stabbing or slashing in hand-to-hand combat.
2. a pin projecting from the side of an object, as the base of a flashbulb or camera lens, for securing the object in a bayonet socket.

verb (used with object)

, bay·o·net·ed or bay·o·net·ted, bay·o·net·ing or bay·o·net·ting.

1. to kill or wound with a bayonet.

bayonet

/ ˈbeɪənɪt /

noun

1. a blade that can be attached to the muzzle of a rifle for stabbing in close combat
2. a type of fastening in which a cylindrical member is inserted into a socket against spring pressure and turned so that pins on its side engage in slots in the socket

verb

1. tr to stab or kill with a bayonet

Word History and Origins

Origin of bayonet¹

1605–15; < French baïonnette, after Bayonne in France (where the weapon was first made or used); -ette

Word History and Origins

Origin of bayonet¹

C17: from French baïonnette , from Bayonne where it originated

Example Sentences

This prompts Sarah Lynn to stab herself with a Confederate bayonet letter-opener, causing a geyser of blood.

From The Daily Beast

A man, dressed in rags, stalks across the field, impaling the bodies with a bayonet.

From The Daily Beast

One of my men whom I knew for a womanish fellow, asked if he should put his bayonet through him.

From The Daily Beast

At a feature called Hill 180, under grenade and rifle fire, he led two platoons in a bayonet charge up the hill.

From The Daily Beast

The Canadians taught me bayonet fighting, and I led a bayonet charge in the Korean war.

From The Daily Beast

I only saw the glitter of a bayonet which a Mexican thrust into his shoulder, at the very moment he was helping me up.

From Project Gutenberg

To save his faithful servant Frank wheeled Nejdi, and cut down a native who was lunging at Chumru with a bayonet.

From Project Gutenberg

Mine should be of pure steel; I have ordered her out of my consciousness these last weeks at the point of the bayonet.

From Project Gutenberg

They are faced by a horrid redoubt held by machine guns, and they are to rush it with the bayonet.

From Project Gutenberg

At the critical moment of the Austrian counter-attack at Dego, Lannes cleared the village by a brisk bayonet charge.

From Project Gutenberg