poniard
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
poniardsimple
-
poniardssimple
-
have poniardedperfect
-
has poniardedperfect
-
am poniardingprogressive
-
are poniardingprogressive
-
is poniardingprogressive
-
have been poniardingperfect progressive
-
has been poniardingperfect progressive
Past
-
poniardedsimple
-
had poniardedperfect
-
was poniardingprogressive
-
were poniardingprogressive
-
had been poniardingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of poniard
1580–90; < French poignard, derivative of poing fist < Latin pugnus; see -ard
Explanation
A poniard is a small knife with a narrow, sharp blade. If you'd been a knight during the Middle Ages, you probably would have carried a poniard. A poniard, or poignard, is a type of dagger that you're only likely to see in a museum or used by a historical re-enactor. French and Italian Renaissance nobles were known to carry poniards, and to occasionally use them in hand-to-hand combat. The word is French, from the Old French poignal, used to mean "dagger," but literally "anything grasped in the fist," from poing, "fist."
Vocabulary lists containing poniard
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
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Much Ado About Nothing
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Eragon
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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.
See Examples For:
Throughout, the filtering of bygone times through impish anachronism — complete with droll references that might do an AP History exam proud — gives “Six” the sheen of a polished poniard.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 15, 2022
General George S. Patton Jr. rapped the map with his leather riding crop, which sheathes a glistening poniard.
From Time Magazine Archive
But what happens when a catastrophe overwhelms the cartoonist's ability to poniard a convenient victim on pen point?
From Time Magazine Archive
Looking straight at Churchill, he lashed out: "I welcome this opportunity of pricking the bloated bladder of lies with the poniard of truth."
From Time Magazine Archive
But Akbar remained silent, and for some time played with the hilt of his poniard, half unsheathing it, and then forcing it back with an angry gesture.
From Visits and Sketches at Home and Abroad with Tales and Miscellanies Now First Collected Vol. III (of 3) by Jameson, Mrs. (Anna)
My son, my son, Thy words are poniards here.
From The Count of Narbonne A Tragedy, in Five Acts by Jephson, Robert
And as almost unconsciously she exulted in her own youth, and strength, delicate little poniards of tragic grief for Mrs. Maldon's helpless and withered senility seemed to stab through that personal pride.
From The Price of Love by Bennett, Arnold
Larger specimens have been found and mistaken for poniards.
From Rambles of an Archaeologist Among Old Books and in Old Places Being Papers on Art, in Relation to Archaeology, Painting, Art-Decoration, and Art-Manufacture by Fairholt, F. W. (Frederick William)
A triangular and pointed blade of steel, resembling the long poniards used by the people of Bayonne, and therefore called a bayonet, was attached to the muzzle of these guns.
From The Blacksmith's Hammer, or The Peasant Code A Tale of the Grand Monarch by Sue, Eug?ne
The officers surrounded by the soldiers form a circle, in the centre of which is placed the official axe of the toqui, with four poniards representing the four Uthalmapus of the confederacy.
One lift of the steady eyelid, one quiet glint of that terrible cold gray eye, that poniarded her every tissue of complexity, inconsistency, and coquetry, had been enough.
From A Deal in Wheat and Other Stories of the New and Old West by Norris, Frank
Others, indeed, told the story in a different fashion, declaring that it was a della Rebbia who had been seduced, and a Barricini who had been poniarded.
From Colomba by Loyd, Lady Mary Sophia (Hely-Hutchinson)
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.
