| 1. | a short, swordlike weapon with a pointed blade and a handle, used for stabbing. |
| 2. | Also called obelisk. Printing. a mark (†) used esp. for references. |
| 3. | to stab with or as if with a dagger. |
| 4. | Printing. to mark with a dagger. |
| 5. | look daggers at, to look at angrily, threateningly, or with hate. |
dag·ger (dāg'ər) n.
[Middle English daggere, alteration of Old French dague, from Old Provençal dague or Old Italian daga, both perhaps from Vulgar Latin *dāca (ēnsis), Dacian (knife), from feminine of Latin Dācus.] |
dagger
short stabbing knife, ostensibly the diminutive of the sword, though in ancient and medieval times the distinction between a long dagger and a short sword was often obscure. From approximately 1300 the European dagger was consistently differentiated from the sword; in the 16th century a school of fencing developed in which a specially designed dagger with a large guard was held in the left hand and used for parrying.
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