bayonet

American  

[bey-uh-nit, -net, bey-uh-net] / ˈbeɪ ə nɪt, -ˌnɛt, ˌbeɪ əˈnɛt /

noun

1. a daggerlike steel weapon that is attached to or at the muzzle of a gun and used for stabbing or slashing in hand-to-hand combat.

2. a pin projecting from the side of an object, as the base of a flashbulb or camera lens, for securing the object in a bayonet socket.

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verb (used with object)

bayoneted, bayonetted, bayoneting, bayonetting

1. to kill or wound with a bayonet.

bayonet British  

/ ˈbeɪənɪt /

noun

1. a blade that can be attached to the muzzle of a rifle for stabbing in close combat

2. a type of fastening in which a cylindrical member is inserted into a socket against spring pressure and turned so that pins on its side engage in slots in the socket

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verb

1. (tr) to stab or kill with a bayonet

Etymology

Origin of bayonet

1605–15; < French baïonnette, after Bayonne in France (where the weapon was first made or used); see -ette

Explanation

A bayonet is a knife attached to the end of a rifle. This makes the rifle capable of even more violence than before. This handy extension to the business end of a rifle gets its name from the French city of Bayonne. It's thought to have developed when French peasantry ran out of ammo and stuffed their knives into the muzzles of their muskets. A bayonet makes the rifle more versatile: besides shooting people at a distance, it's now more deadly in hand to hand combat. With a bayonet, you've got a gun and knife in one package.

Example Sentences

Miller “soon put the enemy to flight at the point of a bayonet, capturing their colors and most of their arms,” Mr. Hemming writes, quoting Cochrane’s 1859 autobiography.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

In fact, the French more or less conquered Southern California, not by the bayonet but by the corkscrew.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2025

Consequentially, a gap in a bone might be a wound from a musket ball or a bayonet - or it might not be.

From Washington Times • Apr. 14, 2023

Officers saw a bayonet and machete, which are illegal in the District of Columbia, inside the truck.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 13, 2021

I figured they might be able to guess who’d thrown that bayonet into the stockade, but nobody would be able to prove anything.

From "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier