dagger

A timber placed diagonally in a ship's frame.

Noun engineering, government

  1. 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. - 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise...

    Synonyms: dirk knife

  2. The typographical mark †.

    Synonyms: obelisk obelus

  3. 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.

Origin

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 dācus. Chastelain (Dictionaire etymologique, 1750) thought that French dague was a derivation from German dagge, dagen, although not attested until a much later date). The knightly dagger evolves from the 12th century. Guillaume le Breton (died 1226) uses daca in his Philippide. Other Middle Latin...

Forms

daggers

Related

poniard rondel stiletto

Derived

at daggers drawn bedaggered bollock dagger Bridport dagger bull-dagger cloak-and-dagger dagger-axe dagger board daggerboard daggerless daggerlike daggerman dagger moth dagger of lath daggerpoint daggerproof dagger-sharp daggertooth double dagger ear dagger kidney dagger Liaoning bronze dagger culture look daggers microdagger

Noun Entry 2

  1. 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 - 1812, David Steel, The Elements and Practice of Naval Architecture:

Origin

Perhaps from diagonal.

Forms

daggers

Verb

  1. To pierce with a dagger; to stab.
  2. To perform the daggering dance.

Forms

daggers daggering daggered