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.
Show More
- to kill or wound with a bayonet.
Show More
Origin of bayonet
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for bayoneted
Contemporary Examples
Six months pregnant, she returned to Detroit and was bayoneted in the back as she tried to enter her house.
His coal miner father had been the one whose luck ran out when he was bayoneted to death by a Japanese soldier.
Historical Examples
What sheep he did not kill for the use of his men, he ordered to be bayoneted.
A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis MarionWilliam Dobein James
The enemy occupying it, some thirty in number, were bayoneted.
The Story of the Malakand Field ForceSir Winston S. Churchill
At that instant the officer was bayoneted by one of the 42nd.
At Aboukir and AcreGeorge Alfred Henty
So the artillerymen were bayoneted in the act of loading their guns.
The Life, Public Services and Select Speeches of Rutherford B. HayesJames Quay Howard
The third was compelled to give the password, then bayoneted in turn.
Canada: the Empire of the NorthAgnes C. Laut
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
Show More
- (tr) to stab or kill with a bayonet
Show More
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 bayoneted
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.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper