Definitions

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

  • noun A large knife with a somewhat sickle-shaped blade that is broader near its point than near the hilt, used especially by Gurkha soldiers as a weapon and cutting tool.

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

  • noun A curved Nepalese knife used especially by Gurkha fighters.

Etymologies

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

[Nepali khukurī, probably via Hindi khukhrī.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Hindi  (kukṛī).

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Examples

  • The kukri is the fighting knife of the Nepalese Gurkhas.

    Kit Up 2009

  • The kukri is the fighting knife of the Nepalese Gurkhas.

    Kit Up 2009

  • The knives are more commonly spelled "kukri" -- and are probably best known for their association with the Gurkhas (Wikipedia entry

    Cronaca 2009

  • There’s a type of knife called a kukri that’s used by people in Nepal and northern India.

    When What We Think We Know, Is Actually Wrong at SF Novelists 2009

  • A heavy "kukri" knife -- one of the leaf-shaped knives which the Gurkhas and others of the hill tribes of

    The Jewel of Seven Stars Bram Stoker 1879

  • One of the locals stabbed Pradhan with a 'kukri' (chopper) and he died on the spot.

    India eNews 2009

  • Wifey grew up in a Nepalese village (she's ethnically Czech -- go figure) where they ate chickens which were called kookra (phonetic spelling -- sounds like it should be spelled along the lines of "kukri" like the ghurka blade).

    Maggie's Farm 2009

  • * Dr. Gyi taught another group, (combat kukri) in Southern Ca. and was quoted as saying, Our

    Dr Gyi 2010

  • This was no insignificant sham, either; much of his Bando instruction ‹ particularly that associated with the kukri short sword ‹ was infused with his first-person accounts of battlefield combat.

    Dr Gyi 2010

  • He found a dead german soldier, head split to the chin by a kukri that had gone right through his helmet and lodged in his jaw.

    When What We Think We Know, Is Actually Wrong at SF Novelists 2009

Comments

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  • These are beautiful Nepalese knives...big and curved and scary looking! You KNOW they could lop off whatever they are aimed at.

    May 4, 2007