trench knife


noun

a short knife for stabbing, sometimes equipped with brass knuckles as a guard, used in modern warfare in hand-to-hand combat.

Origin of trench knife

First recorded in 1915–20

Example sentences from the Web for trench knife

  • Then with a veritable French trench-knife Madame cut the potatoes into long strips.

    Modern Essays |John Macy

British Dictionary definitions for trench knife

trench knife

noun

a double-edged steel knife, often with a guard in the form of a knuckle-duster, designed for close combat

Word Origin for trench knife

C20: so called because such knives were carried by patrols in the Trenches during World War I