machete

plural machetes

1. A sword-like tool used for cutting large plants with a chopping motion, or used as a weapon.

   Near-synonyms: (all sometimes or regionally synonymous) bolo, golok, panga, parang, sundang

   1 more example

   It breaks loose one rope at a time, haphazardly, tossing the Filipinos up into the air. A boy with a machete cuts the one remaining line, which pops up and lashes him across the face.

   1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, page 384

   Synonyms: bolo, golok, panga, parang, sundang

2. A small stringed instrument from Madeira, Portugal, having a double bulged body, traditionally of wood, with a small rib and four metallic strings, sometimes attached by wooden pegs.

present singular third person machetes · participle present macheteing · participle past macheted · past macheted

1. transitiveTo cut or chop with a machete.

   After some hours of intense work, we had macheted a path through the jungle to the bank of the river.