bayonet

plural bayonets

1. governmentA blade mounted to the end of a long gun, originally with a handle inserted into the bore, now usually attached underbarrel.

   Fig. 3. Its bayonet, to be fixed by sticking the handle into the muzzle of the musquet.

   1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page xvi

   1 more example

   “Well, the proper way to kill a man with a bayonet is this: First you thrust it in under the ribs—here.”

   1997, Haruki Murakami, translated by Jay Rubin, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.; republished New York: Vintage Books, 1998, →ISBN, page 515

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

present singular third person bayonets · participle present bayoneting · participle present bayonetting · participle past bayoneted · past bayoneted · participle past bayonetted · past bayonetted

1. transitiveTo stab with a bayonet.
2. transitiveTo compel or drive by the bayonet.

   to bayonet us into a submission

   1774 April 19, Edmund Burke, Speech of Edmund Burke, Esq. on American Taxation, April 19, 1774, 2nd edition, London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], published 1775, →OCLC