bayonet

1 of 2

noun

bay·​o·​net ˈbā-ə-nət 

-ˌnet,

ˌbā-ə-ˈnet 

: a steel blade attached at the muzzle end of a shoulder arm (such as a rifle) and used in hand-to-hand combat

bayonet

2 of 2

verb

bayoneted also bayonetted; bayoneting also bayonetting

transitive verb

1

: to stab with a bayonet

2

: to compel or drive by or as if by the bayonet

intransitive verb

: to use a bayonet

Examples of bayonet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Each foot soldier carried a ten-pound musket, a sixteen-inch bayonet, a tin canteen, a linen haversack, and his own blanket—a battlefield luxury, since in peacetime five men typically shared two blankets. —/ Cbs News, CBS News, 13 June 2025

Baca, who has been leading these workshops since 2011, recalled a moment from one: Everett Cox, a Vietnam War veteran who had kept away from everything military for decades, responded to a prompt of action verbs by expertly stabbing and slashing with an invisible bayonet. —Dina Litovsky, New York Times, 19 May 2025

Verb

There were injuries this time, with some students bayoneted for not retreating. —Paula Schleis, cincinnati.com, 2 May 2020

And anyway, always better to be bitten by a stingray than bayoneted. —Erik Heinrich, BostonGlobe.com, 16 May 2018

Word History

Etymology

Noun

French baïonnette, from Bayonne, France

First Known Use

Noun

1680, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1778, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Phrases Containing bayonet

• Spanish bayonet

Rhymes for bayonet

• alphabet
• arpanet
• biuret
• cigarette
• clarinet
• coronet
• coverlet
• dataset
• epithet
• ethernet
• heavyset
• internet

Kids Definition

bayonet

1 of 2 noun

bay·​o·​net ˈbā-ə-nət  -ˌnet 

ˌbā-ə-ˈnet

: a weapon like a dagger made to fit on the muzzle end of a rifle

bayonet

2 of 2 verb

bayoneted also bayonetted; bayoneting also bayonetting

: to stab with a bayonet