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bodkin Definition

bod·kin (bäd′kin)

noun

  1. Obsolete a dagger or stiletto
  2. a pointed instrument for making holes in cloth
  3. a long, ornamental hairpin
  4. a thick, blunt needle for drawing ribbon or tape through a hem, etc.

Etymology: ME boidekyn, bodekin < ?

bodkin Usage Examples

Adjective modifier

  • bare: He wrote 7:- " And can a man his own quietus make With a bare bodkin?

Modifies a noun

  • arrow: The range of the new bodkin arrow reached 275 yards.
bodkin Quotes

   To be, or not to be; that is the bare bodkin That makes calamity of so long life; For who would fardels bear, till Birnam Wood do come to Dunsinane, But that the fear of something after death Murders the innocent sleep, Great nature's second course, And makes us rather sling the arrows of outrageous fortune Than fly to others that we know not of. There's the respect must give us pause: Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou couldst; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

—Twain, Mark pseudonym of  Samuel Langhorne Clemens

Browse dictionary entries near bodkin

  1. ‹ boding
  2. ‹ bodily injury
  3. ‹ bodily heir
  4. ‹ bodily
  5. ‹ bodiless
  6. ‹ -bodied
  7. ‹ bodice-ripper
  8. ‹ bodice
  9. ‹ bodhran
  10. ‹ bodhisattva
  1. Bodleian ›
  2. Bodoni ›
  3. body ›
  4. body bag ›
  5. body check ›
  6. body clock ›
  7. body corporate ›
  8. body count ›
  9. body English ›
  10. body language ›