Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bodkinThe bodkins were helpful tools that could double as hairpins.—
Doug Ross,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Aug. 2025 Icke also occasionally cues up some Bob Dylan songs, chosen for their on-the-bodkin lyrics.—
Helen Shaw,
Vulture,
30 June 2022 Punishment for cursing or disparaging a clergyman was having a bodkin — a large needle — driven through the tongue.—
Michael E. Ruane,
Washington Post,
27 Oct. 2017
This includes openly carrying the famous Jim Bowie knife, as well as daggers, dirks, throwing knives, stilettos, poniards, swords, machetes and spears.
Both his suggestion and the jolly appreciation seem out of tune with the situation ‘far from home’, which may be a military manoeuvre involving mock battles and bayonet practice, or a preparation for actual combat.
—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Aug. 2026
One of the standout features of these new headphones is their special locking cable, which uses a secure bayonet connection that’s designed to stay firmly attached during use.
In that version of his death, he’s killed by a knife sent flying in his direction by Bellatrix Lestrange after rescuing Harry and his friends from Malfoy Manor.
—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
11 Aug. 2026
Writer-director Jesse Eisenberg (A Real Pain, NYFF62), who also wrote the show’s music and lyrics, keeps things expertly balanced on a knife’s edge between musical theater satire and cathartic character study.
The workers blamed Landi — who was still in charge — for their troubles, and an image of Landi posing, pirate-style, with a cartoon-villain expression and a cutlass between his teeth became a symbol for Eutelia’s misdeeds.
—
Atossa Araxia Abrahamian Atossa Araxia Abrahamian,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2025
The ultimate prop was the pirate flag, which could be decorated with a skull and crossbones (as in the classic Jolly Roger design), bleeding hearts, hourglasses, spears, cutlasses and skeletons.
—
Sean Kingsley,
Smithsonian Magazine,
15 May 2024