noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A 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."

2. 2
   a knife that can be fixed to the end of a rifle and used as a weapon wordnet
3. 3
   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

1. 1
   To stab with a bayonet. transitive
2. 2
   stab or kill someone with a bayonet wordnet
3. 3
   To compel or drive by the bayonet. transitive

   "to bayonet us into a submission"

Synonyms

All synonyms

bladedaggerdirkdudgeonimpaleknife

Example

More examples

"Yanni never uses bayonet light bulbs."

Etymology

From French baïonnette, named after the French town of Bayonne, where the plug bayonet was invented.

Related phrases

Bayonet ConstitutionSpanish bayonetbayonet chargebayonet clutchbayonet jointbeef bayonetknife bayonetspike bayonetsword bayonetgun bladegun muzzlegun sword

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.