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dagger

Pronunciation: /ˈdagə/

Translate dagger | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of dagger

noun

  • 1a short knife with a pointed and edged blade, used as a weapon: he drew his dagger and stabbed the leader
  • Printinganother term for obelus.
  • 2a moth with a dark dagger-shaped marking on the forewing.
    • Genus Acronicta, family Noctuidae: several species

Phrases

be at daggers drawn

British (of two people) be bitterly hostile towards each other: they have been at daggers drawn for weeks over tactics

look (or glare) daggers at

glare very angrily at: she flung the fork down, looking daggers at him

Origin:

late Middle English: perhaps from obsolete dag 'pierce, stab', influenced by Old French dague 'long dagger'

dagger in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of dagger in the US English dictionary

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