bayonet

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

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bayonet ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

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.

to kill or wound with a bayonet.

Origin of bayonet

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bayonet

pierce, knife

Examples from the Web for bayonet

Contemporary Examples of bayonet

This prompts Sarah Lynn to stab herself with a Confederate bayonet letter-opener, causing a geyser of blood.
'BoJack Horseman': The Debauched Tales of a Drunken, Groupie-Sexing D-List Horse, Hits Netflix
Marlow Stern
August 22, 2014
A man, dressed in rags, stalks across the field, impaling the bodies with a bayonet.
‘Turn,’ AMC’s New Series About America’s First Spy Ring, Is A Visually Arresting Historical Epic
Marlow Stern
April 6, 2014
One of my men whom I knew for a womanish fellow, asked if he should put his bayonet through him.
5 War Books You May Not Have in Your Library
Jake Tapper
November 11, 2013
At a feature called Hill 180, under grenade and rifle fire, he led two platoons in a bayonet charge up the hill.
The U.S. Army's Last Bayonet Charge
David Frum
October 23, 2012
The Canadians taught me bayonet fighting, and I led a bayonet charge in the Korean war.
The U.S. Army's Last Bayonet Charge
David Frum
October 23, 2012

Historical Examples of bayonet

One dragoon advanced and was struck off his horse by the bayonet.
A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis Marion
William Dobein James
Without wasting time in firing, they advanced with the bayonet.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force
Sir Winston S. Churchill
She thought that she had to avenge her husband, and had fixed the bayonet to her rifle.
A Comedy of Marriage and Other Tales
Guy De Maupassant
The fellow was a broad-chested, short-necked German, armed with rifle and bayonet.
The Cruise of the Dry Dock
T. S. Stribling
I killed a French sergeant myself with my bayonet in this action.
The Autobiography of Sergeant William Lawrence
William Lawrence

British Dictionary definitions for bayonet

bayonet

noun

a blade that can be attached to the muzzle of a rifle for stabbing in close combat

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 -nets, -neting, -neted, -nets, -netting or -netted

(tr) to stab or kill with a bayonet

Word Origin for bayonet

C17: from French baïonnette, from Bayonne where it originated

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bayonet

1610s, originally a type of dagger; as a steel stabbing weapon fitted to the muzzle of a firearm, from 1670s, from French baionnette (16c.), said to be from Bayonne, city in Gascony where supposedly they first were made; or perhaps it is a diminutive of Old French bayon "crossbow bolt." The city name is from Late Latin baia "bay" + Basque on "good." As a verb from c.1700.