bayonet
[bey-uh-nit, -net, bey-uh-net]
- 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.
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- to kill or wound with a bayonet.
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Origin of bayonet
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for bayonet
Contemporary Examples
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 NetflixMarlow 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 EpicMarlow Stern
April 6, 2014
One of my men whom I knew for a womanish fellow, asked if he should put his bayonet through him.
At a feature called Hill 180, under grenade and rifle fire, he led two platoons in a bayonet charge up the hill.
The Canadians taught me bayonet fighting, and I led a bayonet charge in the Korean war.
Historical Examples
One dragoon advanced and was struck off his horse by the bayonet.
A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis MarionWilliam Dobein James
Without wasting time in firing, they advanced with the bayonet.
The Story of the Malakand Field ForceSir 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 TalesGuy De Maupassant
The fellow was a broad-chested, short-necked German, armed with rifle and bayonet.
The Cruise of the Dry DockT. S. Stribling
I killed a French sergeant myself with my bayonet in this action.
The Autobiography of Sergeant William LawrenceWilliam Lawrence
bayonet
- 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
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- (tr) to stab or kill with a bayonet
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Word Origin
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
n.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper