spontoon

[ spon-toon ]

/ spɒnˈtun /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR spontoon ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a shafted weapon having a pointed blade with crossbar at its base, used by infantry officers in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Nearby words

spontaneous intermittent mandatory ventilation, spontaneous mutation, spontaneous pneumothorax, spontaneous recovery, spontaneous version, spontoon, spoof, spoofery, spoofing, spook, spooky

Origin of spontoon

1590–1600; < French esponton < Italian spuntone, equivalent to s- ex-¹ + puntone kind of weapon (literally, pointed object) (punt(o) point + -one augmentative suffix)

Also called half-pike.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for spontoon

When Balbi wrote that his walls were hung with pictures of saints, it became a question of conveying the spontoon to him.
The Historical Nights' Entertainment|Rafael Sabatini
We have taken measures to exclude all servants but Spontoon, who is as true as steel.'
Waverley|Sir Walter Scott
Lady Emily is to be your nurse, and Spontoon and I your attendants.
Waverley|Sir Walter Scott
Spontoon' (to an elderly military-looking servant out of livery),'take away these things, and answer the bell yourself, if I ring.
Waverley, Or 'Tis Sixty Years Hence, Complete|Sir Walter Scott

I must send Spontoon to see what she is about; he will find her out among the old regimental connexions.
Waverley|Sir Walter Scott

British Dictionary definitions for spontoon

spontoon

/ (spɒnˈtuːn) /

noun

a form of halberd carried by some junior infantry officers in the 18th and 19th centuries

Word Origin for spontoon

C18: from French esponton, from Italian spuntone, from punto point

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