bodkin

/ˈbɑdkən/

Other forms: bodkins

Watch out! The robber has a bodkin! A bodkin is a short knife with a thin blade.

This sweet little word isn’t so sweet — it’s a dagger with a thin blade that’s used as a weapon. It is little though, and easy to hide in a cape. Bodkins are mentioned throughout Shakespeare's plays. For example, Hamlet mentioned a "bare bodkin" in his "to be or not to be" soliloquy. Bodkin is also a word for other little sharp things, like a kind of hemming needle or hair pin, but either way, you're most likely to find one in a museum.

Definitions of bodkin

1. noun

   a dagger with a slender blade
   synonyms: poniard

   type of:

   dagger, sticker

   a short knife with a pointed blade used for piercing or stabbing
2. noun

   a small sharp-pointed tool for punching holes in leather or fabric
   type of:

   hand tool

   a tool used with workers' hands
3. noun

   a blunt needle for threading ribbon through loops
   synonyms: threader

   type of:

   hand tool

   a tool used with workers' hands
4. noun

   formerly a long hairpin; usually with an ornamental head
   type of:

   hairpin

   a double pronged pin used to hold women's hair in place