couteau

American  

[koo-toh] / kuˈtoʊ /

noun

couteaux plural

1. a knife, especially a large double-edged one formerly carried as a weapon.

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couteau British  

/ kuːˈtəʊ /

noun

1. a large two-edged knife used formerly as a weapon

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• couteaux
  plural

Etymology

Origin of couteau

1670–80; < French; Old French coutel < Latin cultellus; see cultellus

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

couteau couteaux

As already said, the topography of the place is peculiar; the lone cottonwood standing on the crest of a couteau de prairie, whose sides slope east and west.

From The Death Shot A Story Retold by Reid, Mayne

Among these was a couteau de chasse, with a double-barrelled pistol in a handle of jade. 

From Pickle the Spy; Or, the Incognito of Prince Charles by Lang, Andrew

"And is he as ready with the gun as with the couteau?" said Sir William.

From The Bride of Lammermoor by Scott, Walter, Sir

The word is derived from the Fr. coutelas, or coutelace, a form of coutel, modern couteau, a knife, from Lat. cultellus, diminutive of culter, a ploughshare, or cutting instrument.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 8 "Cube" to "Daguerre, Louis" by Various

A curiously-formed ridge—a couteau des prairies, on a small scale—traversed the plain from east to west.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine No. XVI.?September, 1851?Vol. III. by Various

Marmontel says they were often à couteaux tirés; and this, not metaphorically but literally.

From The Romance of Biography (Vol 2 of 2) or Memoirs of Women Loved and Celebrated by Poets, from the Days of the Troubadours to the Present Age. 3rd ed. 2 Vols. by Jameson, Mrs. (Anna)

When we were all ready to shove off, "Lafont," he said, "are the men ready with their couteaux?"

From Tom Cringle's Log by Scott, Michael