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.

trench knife

noun

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

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Word History and Origins

Origin of trench knife¹

First recorded in 1915–20

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Word History and Origins

Origin of trench knife¹

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

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Next came the antitank gunner, clumsy and dense, warning Germans away with a Colt .45 automatic in one hand and a trench knife in the other.

From

Their faces were blackened and they carried trench knives and hand grenades.

From

Each carried a trench knife and a revolver, the latter for use as a last resource only.

From

They had gathered round a group of ruined farm buildings some seven hundred yards from the American trenches, armed with grenades, revolvers, trench knives, and rifles.

From

It took a little time to bind and gag eight men when the bonds and gags had to be ripped from their clothing with trench knives.

From

trench foot trench mortar

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