bodkin
pronunciation
How to pronounce bodkin in British English:
UK [ˈbɒdkɪn]
How to pronounce bodkin in American English:
US [ ˈbɑːdkɪn]
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- Noun:
- a dagger with a slender blade
- formerly a long hairpin; usually with an ornamental head
- a small sharp-pointed tool for punching holes in leather or fabric
- a blunt needle for threading ribbon through loops
Word Origin
- bodkin
- bodkin: [14] A bodkin was originally a small dagger, and only in the 18th century did it develop the perhaps more familiar sense ‘long blunt needle’. Initially it was a three-syllable word, spelled boidekyn, and its origins are mysterious. Most speculation has centred on Celtic as a source. Welsh bidog ‘dagger’ being cited (the -kin is no doubt a diminutive suffix).
- bodkin (n.)
- late 14c., boydekin, of unknown origin. The ending suggests a diminutive formation, and Celtic has been suggested as the source of the root.
Example
- 1. He 's too big to travel bodkin between you and me .
- 2. The train was so crowded that I had to sit bodkin .
- 3. I leave with my bodkin and my tears in my hands .
- 4. I leave with my bodkin and my tears in my hands ;
- 5. Mr and mrs tang went the whole journey in a small buggy , with their child riding bodkin .