Spanish bayonet

noun

1. any of certain plants belonging to the genus Yucca, of the agave family, having narrow, spine-tipped leaves and a cluster of white flowers.

Spanish bayonet

noun

1. any of several American liliaceous plants of the genus Yucca, esp Y. aloifolia, that have a tall woody stem, stiff pointed leaves, and large clusters of white flowers: cultivated for ornament See also Adam's-needle

Word History and Origins

Origin of Spanish bayonet¹

An Americanism dating back to 1835–45; in allusion to its tropical American origin

Example Sentences

Some boys had cut off the long, sharp spears of a Spanish bayonet bush and they were chasing the girls with them.

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“We could even put some vegetation barriers, simple things, like how about Spanish bayonet?” he asked.

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“It is not very costly,” he said, adding that a vegetation barrier of Spanish bayonet, a plant known for its pointy and sharp leaves, would make for “quite a greeting” to any future intruders.

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Yucca Mohavensis, commonly called "wild date," or "Spanish bayonet," is more widely distributed within our borders than either of our other species.

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The Cross was triumphing over the Crescent in Mindanao quite as much, nay, much more, by the voices of the missionaries as by the Spanish bayonets.

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