Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A blade adapted to fit the muzzle end of a rifle and used as a weapon in close combat.
  • transitive verb To prod, stab, or kill with this weapon.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To stab with a bayonet; compel or drive by the bayonet.
  • noun A short flat dagger.
  • noun A dagger or short stabbing instrument of steel for infantry soldiers, made to be attached to the muzzle of a gun.
  • noun In machinery, a pin which plays in and out of holes made to receive it, and which thus serves to connect and disconnect parts of the machinery. See bayonet-clutch.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To stab with a bayonet.
  • transitive verb To compel or drive by the bayonet.
  • noun (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.
  • noun (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.
  • noun See Clutch.
  • noun a form of coupling similar to that by which a bayonet is fixed on the barrel of a musket.
  • noun (photography) a coupling mechanism for attaching removable lenses to the body of a camera, using a bayonet socket.
  • noun a coupling mechanism for attaching matching cylindrical parts to each other, where each of which has an arced L-shaped slot with the longer side perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder, such that the slots slide inside each other. There is also usually a knoblike projection on the mount so that when the two parts to be connected are fully inserted in proper alignment, they are locked in place. It is designed for rapid coupling and decoupling, requiring the turning of one part through only a small arc, in place of a screw-type arrangement, which requires several full turns.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Weapon 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 offence and defence. Originally, the bayonet was made with a handle, which required to be fitted into the bore of the musket after the soldier had fired.
  • noun 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.
  • verb transitive To stab with a bayonet.
  • verb transitive To compel or drive by the bayonet.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a knife that can be fixed to the end of a rifle and used as a weapon
  • verb stab or kill someone with a bayonet

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French baïonnette, after Bayonne, a town of southwest France where the weapon was manufactured.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French baïonnette, named after the French town of Bayonne.

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Examples

  • Another remark by an officer deserves, I think, to be noted here, namely, that the bayonet is a good weapon, but its use must be taught.

    Three Months in the Soudan 1885

  • He added, clearly the issue bayonet is also a no-no - you could have someone's eye out with that.

    Archive 2009-05-01 Dungeekin 2009

  • He added, clearly the issue bayonet is also a no-no - you could have someone's eye out with that.

    High Court Outlaws Killing on the Battlefield Dungeekin 2009

  • And with the rise of the curtain Jimmy O'Shea had stepped on to the boards; for no man who knew him could ever hear the word bayonet without recalling him, if only for a second.

    No Man's Land 1912

  • "boys" who can hand a tree or start a raft over a fall, throttle a bear, or pole a barge down the rapids, and in whose hands a musket and bayonet is no more than a toasting-fork.

    The Civil War in America 1861

  • I have an original IWW poster from WWI, "A bayonet is a killing tool with a worker at either end.", teriffic graphics, that really needs to show up on Antiques Roadshow some day.

    MSM To Obama: Be Wary Of Left-Wing Groups Demanding Too Much Change 2009

  • How a bayonet from a German trench held up a placard with those magic words of good cheer that ever move the world -- "A Merry

    The Sequel What the Great War will mean to Australia 1900

  • Rarely is a charge with the bayonet made in the course of a war, though the bayonet is the most terrible of weapons.

    A Philosophical Dictionary 2007

  • However, I led the way, holding my candle high, and keeping the sword bayonet very handy.

    Carnacki, the Ghost Finder 2007

  • I had the sword bayonet I have told you about; and when the landlord got back, we sat talking in my study until nearly midnight.

    Carnacki, the Ghost Finder 2007

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