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puntilla

American

[poon-tee-uh, poon-tee-lyah, -yah] / punˈti ə, punˈti lyɑ, -yɑ /

noun

(in bullfighting) a short dagger used for cutting the spinal cord of the bull.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

puntillas

plural

Etymology

Origin of puntilla

1830–40; < Spanish, diminutive of punta point

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.