a short, thick, curving sword with a single cutting edge, formerly used esp. by sailors
See cutlass in American Heritage Dictionary 4
cut·lass also cut·las
noun
A short heavy sword with a curved single-edged blade, once used as a weapon by sailors.
Caribbean A machete.
Origin: French coutelas, from Old French coutelasse, probably augmentative of coutel, knife, from Latin cultellus, diminutive of culter, knife; see skel-1 in Indo-European roots.