[as-uh-gahy] 
noun, plural -gais, verb, -gaied, -gai⋅ing.| 1. | the slender javelin or spear of the Bantu-speaking people of southern Africa. |
| 2. | a southern African tree, Curtisia dentata, of the dogwood family, from whose wood such spears are made. |
| 3. | to pierce with an assegai. |
| as·se·gai or as·sa·gai (ās'ə-gī') n.
[Obsolete French azagaie, probably from Old Spanish azagayah, from Arabic az-zaġāya : al-, the + Berber zaġāya, spear.] |