trench knife

noun

a short knife for stabbing, sometimes equipped with brass knuckles as a guard, used in modern warfare in hand-to-hand combat.

Origin of trench knife

First recorded in 1915–20

Words Nearby trench knife

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use trench knife in a sentence

A new weapon which had come into use during the great war as part of the soldier's individual equipment was the trench knife.
America's Munitions 1917-1918 | Benedict Crowell
But each man had a big trench-knife and a pair of automatic pistols, with plenty of ammunition.
The Valley of Vision | Henry Van Dyke
Somebody could lean over the top and snake off your head with a trench knife before you could get your feet loose.
"And they thought we wouldn't fight" | Floyd Gibbons
Each carried a trench knife and a revolver, the latter for use as a last resource only.
The Revellers | Louis Tracy
So I pulled out my trench knife and went for another, but he yelled 'Kamerad!'
New York Times Current History: The European War, Vol. 8, Pt. 2, No. 1, July 1918 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for trench knife

trench knife

noun

a double-edged steel knife, often with a guard in the form of a knuckle-duster, designed for close combat

Origin of trench knife

C20: so called because such knives were carried by patrols in the Trenches during World War I

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

Browse