BODKIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bodkin mean? 

• BODKIN (noun)
  The noun BODKIN has 4 senses:

1. a dagger with a slender blade

2. formerly a long hairpin; usually with an ornamental head

3. a small sharp-pointed tool for punching holes in leather or fabric

4. a blunt needle for threading ribbon through loops

  Familiarity information: BODKIN used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BODKIN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A dagger with a slender blade

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

bodkin; poniard

Hypernyms ("bodkin" is a kind of...):

dagger; sticker (a short knife with a pointed blade used for piercing or stabbing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Formerly a long hairpin; usually with an ornamental head

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("bodkin" is a kind of...):

hairpin (a double pronged pin used to hold women's hair in place)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A small sharp-pointed tool for punching holes in leather or fabric

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("bodkin" is a kind of...):

hand tool (a tool used with workers' hands)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A blunt needle for threading ribbon through loops

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

bodkin; threader

Hypernyms ("bodkin" is a kind of...):

hand tool (a tool used with workers' hands)

 Context examples 

So I would turn what is but a lady's bodkin of a weapon into a very handsome club.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Keep your hands from your bodkins, you two, for that was my trade before you were born, and, by God's soul! I will drive a handful of steel through you if you move a finger.”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I shall be shut up with the tire-women else, and have a week of spindle and bodkin, when I would fain be galloping Troubadour up Wilverley Walk, or loosing little Roland at the Vinney Ridge herons.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)