bodkin

[ bod-kin ]

/ ˈbɒd kɪn /

a small, pointed instrument for making holes in cloth, leather, etc.

a long pinshaped instrument used by women to fasten up the hair.

a blunt, needlelike instrument for drawing tape, cord, etc., through a loop, hem, or the like.

Obsolete. a small dagger; stiletto.

Origin of bodkin

1350–1400; Middle English badeken, bo(i)dekyn, of uncertain origin

Dr. Bodkin and his family were away at a seaside place in the South of England.

A Charming Fellow, Volume II (of 3) |Frances Eleanor Trollope
I imagine the bodkin scene will always take the palm in it for mere mirth.

The Comedies of William Congreve |William Congreve
On the hearth-rug, with his back to the fire, and his coffee-cup in his hand, stands Dr. Bodkin.

A Charming Fellow, Volume I (of 3) |Frances Eleanor Trollope
At the end of that time he read another speech by the same statesman, and telegraphed to his agents: "Give Bodkin a free hand."

The Forsyte Saga, Volume III. |John Galsworthy

And pray who shall search the vitals of a whale with a bodkin—who may reach his jackknife through the superposed bubber?

The Fiend's Delight |Dod Grile

bodkin

/ (ˈbɒdkɪn) /

a blunt large-eyed needle used esp for drawing tape through openwork

archaic a dagger

printing a pointed steel tool used for extracting characters when correcting metal type

archaic a long ornamental hairpin

C14: probably of Celtic origin; compare Gaelic biodag dagger