punji stake

[ poon-jee, puhn- ]

/ ˈpʊn dʒi, ˈpʌn- /

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noun

a sharp bamboo stake concealed in high grass at an angle so as to gash the feet and legs of enemy soldiers and often coated with excrement so as to cause an infected wound.

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Also called punji stick .

Origin of punji stake

1870–75; earlier punjee, panja, perhaps <Chingpaw, a Tibeto-Burman language of the Kachins of NE Burma and adjacent areas of India and China; the word is first attested in an account of these people

Words nearby punji stake

punitive, punitive damages, Punjab, Punjabi, Punjab States, punji stake, punk, punka, punkah, punker, punkie

How to use punji stake in a sentence

We can, due to the critical issues at stake, also go one more step and impose an embargo.
U.S. Should Make North Korea Pay for Sony Hack|Gordon G. Chang|December 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Think about it: Dodd-Frank was explicitly passed to drive a stake through the heart of the implicit concept of “too big to fail.”
How Naive is Elizabeth Warren?|Nick Gillespie|December 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
At stake is not just the 21 photos that were originally ordered to be released.
The Detainee Abuse Photos Obama Didn’t Want You To See|Noah Shachtman, Tim Mak|December 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Then as now, we all are at stake, and sooner or later, we all must make a stand.
McConaughey’s ‘Stand’—And Ours|James Poulos|December 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Paul has consistently used Benghazi as a device to stake out high ground on foreign policy.
Rand Paul Won’t Let Benghazi Die|Olivia Nuzzi|December 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
On the thirteenth of the same month they bound to the stake, in order to burn alive, a man who had two religious in his house.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XX, 1621-1624|Various
The Duke, as well as his friend, had much at stake in bringing this part of his negociation to bear.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter
I watched her narrowly, and would stake my life on it she is only the more dangerous for being the less open.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846|Various
It would not take two minutes to convert him from the inquisitor to the martyr at the stake.
Tessa Wadsworth's Discipline|Jennie M. Drinkwater
And the quail, perched on the fence-stake, would she address herself to us or to Mr. Robert White down in the meadow?
The Soldier of the Valley|Nelson Lloyd