dagger

C2 Topic:War & Conflict

US /ˈdæɡɚ/ UK /ˈdæɡə/ See IPA manual

Freq #7169

Meanings

1

noun
A stabbing weapon, similar to a sword but with a short, double-edged blade.

The dagger, under the title cultellum and misericorde, has been the constant companion of the sword, at least from the days of Edward I. and is mentioned in the statute of Winchester.
2

noun
A point scored near the end of the game (clutch time) to take or increase the scorer's team lead, so that they are likely to win.

His last-minute 3-point dagger silenced the criticism for his so-called failure to come up big in big moments.
3

noun
A timber placed diagonally in a ship's frame.

DAGGER. A piece of timber that faces on to the poppets of the bilgeways, and crosses them diagonally , to keep them together.
4

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

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a stabbing weapon, similar... dirkknife

4 noun · a short knife with a... sticker

Word family

Derived forms bedaggeredbull-daggercloak-and-daggerdagger-axedagger-sharpdaggerboarddaggerlessdaggerlikedaggermandaggerpointdaggerproofdaggertooth

Related forms poniardrondelstiletto

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

double dagger
the printing symbol ‡, sometimes used to mark a note or reference

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Dagger is recorded from late Middle English, but its origin is obscure. The similarly dated word dag, meaning much the same as the original clothing sense of tag, may be a form of dagger.

Etymology

From Middle English daggere, daggare, dagard, probably adapted from Old French dague (1229), related to Occitan, Italian, Spanish daga, Dutch dagge, German Degen, Middle Low German dagge (“knife's point”), Old Norse daggarðr, Danish daggert, Faroese daggari, Welsh dager, dagr, Breton dac, Albanian thikë (“a knife, dagger”), thek (“to stab, to pierce with a sharp object”). In English attested from the 1380s. The ultimate origin of the word is unclear. Grimm suspects Celtic origin. Others have suggested derivation from an unattested Vulgar Latin *daca "Dacian [knife]", from the Latin adjective d...

Topics

War & Conflict Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# dagger

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈdæɡɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈdæɡə/
**Frequency rank:** 7169

## Meanings
1. A stabbing weapon, similar to a sword but with a short, double-edged blade.
2. A point scored near the end of the game (clutch time) to take or increase the scorer's team lead, so that they are likely to win.
3. A timber placed diagonally in a ship's frame.
4. a short knife with a pointed blade used for piercing or stabbing

## Examples
- The dagger, under the title cultellum and misericorde, has been the constant companion of the sword, at least from the days of Edward I. and is mentioned in the statute of Winchester.
- His last-minute 3-point dagger silenced the criticism for his so-called failure to come up big in big moments.
- DAGGER. A piece of timber that faces on to the poppets of the bilgeways, and crosses them diagonally , to keep them together.

## Derived Forms
- bedaggered
- bull-dagger
- cloak-and-dagger
- dagger-axe
- dagger-sharp
- daggerboard
- daggerless
- daggerlike
- daggerman
- daggerpoint
- daggerproof
- daggertooth

## Related Forms
- poniard
- rondel
- stiletto

## Etymology
From Middle English daggere, daggare, dagard, probably adapted from Old French dague (1229), related to Occitan, Italian, Spanish daga, Dutch dagge, German Degen, Middle Low German dagge (“knife's point”), Old Norse daggarðr, Danish daggert, Faroese daggari, Welsh dager, dagr, Breton dac, Albanian thikë (“a knife, dagger”), thek (“to stab, to pierce with a sharp object”). In English attested from the 1380s. The ultimate origin of the word is unclear. Grimm suspects Celtic origin. Others have suggested derivation from an unattested Vulgar Latin *daca "Dacian [knife]", from the Latin adjective d...

## Topics
- War & Conflict
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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