bilbo

[bil-boh]

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noun, plural bil·boes. Archaic.

a finely tempered sword.

Origin of bilbo

1585–95; short for Bilboa blade sword made in Bilboa (variant of Bilbao)

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

Related Words for bilboes

weapon, blade, dagger, saber, brand, bill, foil, cutlass, rapier, epee, scimitar, hanger, sabre, broadsword, kris, creese, claymore, falchion, backsword, toledo

Examples from the Web for bilboes

Historical Examples of bilboes

Up with the prisoner, and let us get him safely into the bilboes.'
Micah Clarke
Arthur Conan Doyle
Restraint, durance, confinement under arrest, or in the bilboes.
The Sailor's Word-Book
William Henry Smyth
Here, Nicholls, this man is your prisoner; get the bilboes and clap them on him.
The Missing Merchantman
Harry Collingwood
For which Mr. Rowe carid hym abord and put hym in the bilboes.
Diary of Richard Cocks Vol. I
Richard Cocks
One of the earliest of these instruments of punishment was the bilboes.
The Historical Child
Oscar Chrisman

British Dictionary definitions for bilboes

bilboes

pl n

a long iron bar with two sliding shackles, formerly used to confine the ankles of a prisoner

Word Origin for bilboes

C16: perhaps changed from Bilbao

bilbo

noun plural -bos or -boes

(formerly) a sword with a marked temper and elasticity

Word Origin for bilbo

C16: from Bilboa, variant (in English) of Bilbao, Spain, noted for its blades

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 bilboes

bilbo

kind of sword noted for temper and elasticity, 1590s, from Bilbao, town in northern Spain where swords were made, in English Bilboa. The town name is Roman Bellum Vadum "beautiful ford" (over the Nervion River).