bowie knife

noun

bow·​ie knife ˈbü-ē- How to pronounce bowie knife (audio) ˈbō- How to pronounce bowie knife (audio)
: a stout single-edged hunting knife with part of the back edge curved concavely to a point and sharpened

Examples of bowie knife in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The speaker that February night was Cassius Marcellus Clay, a bold and brawling Kentucky abolitionist, equally skilled with a stump speech and a bowie knife. Jon Grinspan, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Apr. 2024 There’s a reason bowie knives were developed to be fighting knives. Jace Bauserman, Field & Stream, 19 July 2023 Aside from their build, bowie knives serve multiple outdoor purposes. Jace Bauserman, Field & Stream, 19 July 2023 Adams recklessly tossed aside his rifle and jumped down a bank to chase the wolf with his bowie knife. Gary Kamiya, SFChronicle.com, 7 July 2018 During a mob scene, Thumbelina stabs one of the movie’s villains with a bowie knife before jumping on a table and mowing down the police with a machine gun. Matthew Sedacca, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bowie knife.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

James Bowie

First Known Use

1830, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bowie knife was in 1830

Dictionary Entries Near bowie knife

Cite this Entry

“Bowie knife.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bowie%20knife. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

bowie knife

noun
bow·​ie knife ˈbü-ē- How to pronounce bowie knife (audio) ˈbō-ē- How to pronounce bowie knife (audio)
: a large hunting knife with a single-edged blade
Etymology

named for James Bowie

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