bodkin
Americannoun
-
a small, pointed instrument for making holes in cloth, leather, etc.
-
a long pinshaped instrument used by women to fasten up the hair.
-
a blunt, needlelike instrument for drawing tape, cord, etc., through a loop, hem, or the like.
-
Obsolete. a small dagger; stiletto.
noun
-
a blunt large-eyed needle used esp for drawing tape through openwork
-
archaic a dagger
-
printing a pointed steel tool used for extracting characters when correcting metal type
-
archaic a long ornamental hairpin
Etymology
Origin of bodkin
1350–1400; Middle English badeken, bo ( i ) dekyn, of uncertain origin
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In fact, that “serpent of old Nile” — Shakespeare’s phrase — probably used Egyptian cobra venom, possibly secreted in a hollow bodkin that she carried wound in her hair.
From Washington Post
However, we atheists should not relent, but press our advantage, and remain ready at all times to slip the bodkin of reason into the still-beating heart of faith and twist it vigorously.
From Salon
To sit, ride, or travel bodkin, to sit closely wedged between two persons.
From Project Gutenberg
"No more than I fear the bodkins of your women," said Gerard, haughtily.
From Project Gutenberg
With a bare bodkin who shall fardels carry?
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
