couteau

[ koo-toh ]

noun,plural cou·teaux

[koo-tohz; French koo-toh]. /kuˈtoʊz; French kuˈtoʊ/.

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

Origin of couteau

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

Words Nearby couteau

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use couteau in a sentence

This was crossed by another shoulder belt, to which was hung a hunting knife, or couteau de chasse.
Quentin Durward | Sir Walter Scott
The so called "Roman swords" are "anelaces," and a couteau de chasse of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Notes & Queries, No. 42, Saturday, August 17, 1850 | Various
A couteau de chasse was thrust in his leathern belt, and a magnificent mountain-dog walked leisurely at his side.
A Night on the Borders of the Black Forest | Amelia B. Edwards
Master and men had a sort of fancy costume, which allowed them to wear a couteau-de-chasse.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine -- Volume 55, No. 340, February, 1844 | Various
A curiously-formed ridge—a couteau des prairies, on a small scale—traversed the plain from east to west.
Harper's New Monthly Magazine | Various

British Dictionary definitions for couteau

couteau

/ (kuːˈtəʊ) /

nounplural -teaux (-ˈtəʊz)

a large two-edged knife used formerly as a weapon

Origin of couteau

C17: from Old French coutel, from Latin cultellus a little knife, from culter knife, ploughshare

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

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