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bayonet - 5 dictionary results

bay⋅o⋅net

[bey-uh-nit, -net, bey-uh-net] noun, verb, -net⋅ed or -net⋅ted, -net⋅ing or -net⋅ting.
–noun
1. a daggerlike steel weapon that is attached to or at the muzzle of a gun and used for stabbing or slashing in hand-to-hand combat.
2. a pin projecting from the side of an object, as the base of a flashbulb or camera lens, for securing the object in a bayonet socket.
–verb (used with object)
3. to kill or wound with a bayonet.

Origin:
1605–15; < F baïonnette, after Bayonne in France (where the weapon was first made or used); see -ette
bay·o·net   (bā'ə-nĭt, -nět', bā'ə-nět')   
n.  A blade adapted to fit the muzzle end of a rifle and used as a weapon in close combat.
tr.v.   bay·o·net·ed or bay·o·net·ted, bay·o·net·ing or bay·o·net·ting, bay·o·nets
To prod, stab, or kill with this weapon.

[French baïonnette, after Bayonne, a town of southwest France.]
Word History: It is not unusual for a word to come from a place name. Cheddar, from the name of a village in southwest England; hamburger, after Hamburg, Germany; and mayonnaise, possibly from Mahón, the capital of Minorca, are often found together on our tables. The word bayonet, a very undomestic sort of word, also derives from a place name, that of Bayonne, a town in southwest France where the weapon was first made. The French word baïonnette could also mean "a dagger or a knife," and the English word bayonet is first found in 1672 with this meaning. The word is first recorded in its present sense in 1704.

Bayonet

Bay"o*net\, n. [F. bayonnette, ba["i]onnette; -- so called, it is said, because the first bayonets were made at Bayonne.]

1. (Mil.) A pointed instrument of the dagger kind fitted on the muzzle of a musket or rifle, so as to give the soldier increased means of offense and defense.

Note: Originally, the bayonet was made with a handle, which required to be fitted into the bore of the musket after the soldier had fired.

2. (Mach.) A pin which plays in and out of holes made to receive it, and which thus serves to engage or disengage parts of the machinery.

Bayonet clutch. See Clutch.

Bayonet joint, a form of coupling similar to that by which a bayonet is fixed on the barrel of a musket. --Knight.

Bayonet

Bay"o*net\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bayoneted; p. pr. & vb. n. Bayoneting.]

1. To stab with a bayonet.

2. To compel or drive by the bayonet.

To bayonet us into submission. --Burke.
Language Translation for : bayonet
Spanish: bayoneta,
German: das Bajonett,
Japanese: 銃剣

bayonet 
1611, from Fr. baionnette, said to be from Bayonne, city in France where they were first made, or perhaps a dim. of O.Fr. bayon "crossbow bolt."
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