stiletton.
/stɪˈlɛtəʊ/ 1.
a. A short dagger with a blade thick in proportion to its breadth.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > sharp weapon > side arms > knife or dagger > [noun] > types of
anlacec1300
misericord1324
bodkin1386
baselardc1390
popperc1390
wood-knife1426
spudc1440
pavade1477
bistoury1490
skene1527
dudgeon1548
sword dagger1567
machete1575
kris1589
bum dagger1596
stillado1607
stiletto1611
steelet1616
hanjar1621
pisaa1640
jockteleg1642
khanjar1684
bayonet1692
kuttar1696
parazonium1751
skene-ochles1754
scalping-knife1759
snick-a-snee1760
manchette1762
snickersnee1775
guard-dagger1786
boarding knife1807
scalp-knife1807
kukri1811
skene-dhu1811
parang1820
stylet1820
belt knife1831
bowie-knife1836
scalper1837
sheath-knife1837
toothpick1837
tumbok lada1839
snick-and-snee knife1843
tickler1844
bowie1846
toad-sticker1858
simi1860
scramasax1862
kinjal1863
left-hander1869
main gauche1869
aikuchi1875
tanto1885
toad-stabber1885
cinquedea1897
trench knife1898
puukko1925
panga1929
quillon dagger1950
flick-knife1957
ratchet knife1966
sai1973
ratchet1975
1611 T. Coryate Crudities sig. X3 They [sc. the Venetian ‘Braves’] wander abroad very late in the night..armed with a priuy coat of maile,..and a little sharpe dagger called a stiletto.
1627 H. Burton Baiting Popes Bull 44 What is it but pistols, stellettoes, poysons, your vsuall weapons?
1629 F. Quarles Argalus & Parthenia i. 12 A keene Steeletto in his trembling hand He rudely grip'd.
1674 Fair One of Tunis 136 He..would a thousand times have plunged his Steeletto into his own bosom, had not he had a design to have stab'd it into that of his Rival.
1711 J. Puckle Club (1817) 7 Some use their wits as Bravoes wear stelettoes, not for defence but mischief.
1725 B. Higgons Hist. & Crit. Remarks Burnet's Hist. 86 As Dark-lanthorns and Stilettoes are unlawful Weapons to attack his Person.
1783 J. O. Justamond tr. G. T. F. Raynal Philos. Hist. Europeans in Indies (new ed.) V. 163 Besides these, the Turks have a dagger, and the Moors a stiletto.
1841 G. P. R. James Brigand v Employing the stiletto or the drug when it suited his purpose to get rid of trouble~some friends.
1864 Reader 18 June 771/1 She discovers a stiletto hidden in a pond.
b. In extended use.
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1673 A. Marvell Rehearsal Transpros'd ii. 315 Your whole Book of Ecclesiastical Politie having been Writ not with a Pen but a Stilletto.
c1740 Visct. Bolingbroke Idea Patriot King ix. 74 Simulation is a Stiletto, not only an offensive, but an unlawful Weapon.
1843 T. B. Macaulay Addison in Ess. (1897) 738 [Pope's] own life was one long series of tricks... He was all stiletto and mask.
1844 A. W. Kinglake Eothen xi. 172 The fleas of all nations were there:—the wary, watchful ‘pulce’ with his poisoned stiletto [etc.].
1872 J. R. Lowell Milton in Literary Ess. (1890) IV. 85 But the thin stiletto of Macchiavelli is a more effective weapon than these fantastic arms of his [sc.Milton's].
2. † a. In full stiletto beard. A pointed beard. Obsolete.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [noun] > styles of beard
goat's beard1440
bodkin-bearda1529
pique-devant1587
crates1592
peak1592
spade-peak1592
beard1598
Cads-beard1598
spade-beard1598
punto beard1633
cathedral beard1635
stiletto1638
T bearda1640
trencher-bearda1668
tile beard1816
imperial beard1832
Charley1833
imperial1835
royale1838
goatee1841
goat1849
Newgate frill1851
Newgate fringe1853
Vandyke beard1894
torpedo beard1899
Vandyke1909
pencil beard1966
1638 J. Ford Fancies iii. 32 The very hee that Weares a steletto on his chinne.
a1660 Prince d'Amour etc. 127 The Steeletto beard, O it makes me afraid It is so sharp beneath.
b. Short for stiletto heel n. at Compounds 3.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > parts of footwear > [noun] > heel > types of
heelc1400
cork1609
Polonia heel1613
high heel1645
French heel1651
spur box1862
rubber heel1867
boot-heel1870
Louis Quinze1875
Louis heel1906
Cuban heel1908
brogue heel1927
spike heel1929
stiletto heel1931
wedge-heel1939
stiletto1953
wedge1959
stacked heel1960
stilt heel1973
1953 Newark (Ohio) Advocate 19 Mar. 8 (advt.) The Italian idea in fashion... Florentine stilettos... The slender fabric shoe, poised on a slim dagger of a heel.
1959 New Statesman 10 Oct. 464/3 She came..smooching forward, her walk made lopsided by the absence of one heel of the stilettos.
1967 O. Wynd Walk Softly ii. 13 She wobbled slightly on worn-over stilettos.
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the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > surgical instruments > [noun] > probe or sound
tenta1400
probe?a1425
search?a1425
sequere mea1425
searcher?c1425
searching iron1477
prove?1541
privet1598
proof1611
style1631
seeker1658
searching instrument1663
stylet1697
stiletto1699
breast-probe1739
sound1797
sounder1875
tracer1882
1699 M. Lister Journey to Paris (new ed.) 233 He boldly thrusts in a broad Lancet or Stilleto into the middle of the Muscle of the Thigh near the Anus.
4. Needlework, etc. A small pointed instrument for making eyelet-holes.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > [noun] > cutting, stamping, or pinking > equipment for
bodkinc1440
scallop-iron1688
pinking iron1761
stiletto1828
1828 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Stiletto, a pointed instrument for making eyelet holes in working muslin.
1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 6513 Button-hooks, nail files, corkscrews, stilettoes, tweezers, nut picks, &c.
1879 E. A. Davidson Pretty Arts 148 This material..may with ease be penetrated by the stiletto or a strong needle.
Compounds
C1. General attributive (in sense 1).
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1821 W. Scott Kenilworth III. xi. 214 By using the three-cornered stiletto-blade as a wedge, he forced open the slender silver hinges of the casket.
1911 Daily News 12 Jan. 2 The same day her husband's body was found on the seashore [of Naples] bearing the marks of many stiletto wounds.
C2. Characteristic of a style of beard popular in the early 17th cent. (see sense 2a), as stiletto cut, stiletto fashion.
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1621 J. Taylor Superbiæ Flagellum C8 Some [beards] sharpe Steletto fashion, dagger like.
1635 W. Davenant Triumphs Prince d'Amour 4 Two..swaggering Souldiers,..their Beards mishapen, with long whiskers of the Stilletto cut.
C3.
stiletto-fly n. rare (see quot. 1895).
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1895 J. H. Comstock & A. B. Comstock Man. Study Insects 464 Family Therevidæ... The abdomen is long and tapering, suggesting the name stiletto-flies.
stiletto heel n. a very narrow, high heel on women's shoes, fashionable esp. in the 1950s; a shoe with such a heel.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > parts of footwear > [noun] > heel > types of
heelc1400
cork1609
Polonia heel1613
high heel1645
French heel1651
spur box1862
rubber heel1867
boot-heel1870
Louis Quinze1875
Louis heel1906
Cuban heel1908
brogue heel1927
spike heel1929
stiletto heel1931
wedge-heel1939
stiletto1953
wedge1959
stacked heel1960
stilt heel1973
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > shoe > [noun] > types of > with specific heels > high heels
high shoe1606
heels1667
court shoe1885
spike heel1929
stiletto heel1931
wedge-heel1939
wedge shoe1939
wedge sole1939
wedgie1940
court1959
wedge1959
pump1967
stilt heel1973
Manolo Blahnik1988
1931 Vidette-Messenger (Valparaiso, Indiana) 20 Apr. 5/1 A shaved, modern stiletto heel appears on trimmed opera pumps for tailored clothes.
1952 Independent-Press-Telegram (Long Beach, Calif.) 7 Sept. a5 (advt.) The new ‘stiletto’ heel Vogue raves about.
1981 M. Hardwick Chinese Detective ix. 73 She was in black slip and stockings and four-inch stiletto heels.
stiletto-heeled adj. with a stiletto heel.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > [adjective] > with heel > with specific type of heel
corked1519
high-heeled1618
high heel1677
red-heeled1709
low-heel1712
stilt-heeled1772
court1903
wedge-heeled1939
Cuban-heeled1940
spike-heeled1953
stiletto-heeled1959
1959 Times 13 May 10/7 The iniquitous effect of stiletto-heeled shoes on the modern woman's feet.
1973 M. Amis Rachel Papers 124 At this kind of speed it was advisable to place the stiletto-heeled shoe, kept in a side-pocket for this purpose, over the gear-stick to prevent it jiggering like a pump-drill.
Derivatives
stiˈletto-like adj.
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1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick lix. 309 With a stiletto-like cry..the negro yelled out.
1865 Daily Tel. 26 Oct. 2/1 There was a mean shrinking from a condemnation of Lord Palmerston's life and policy, and a stiletto-like smiting in the back.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
stilettov.
/stɪˈlɛtəʊ/ 1. transitive. To stab, esp. mortally, with a stiletto.
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the world > life > death > killing > killing by specific method > kill [verb (transitive)] > by stabbing or cutting
snithec725
ofstingeOE
stickOE
to sting to death13..
to put (do) to the sword1338
throata1382
to strike dead, to (the) deathc1390
hewc1400
stab1530
to stab (a person) in1530
poniard1593
stiletto1613
jugulate1623
kris1625
dagger1694
pike1787
to cut down1821
sword1863
the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > injure [verb (transitive)] > wound > wound with sharp weapon
woundc760
stickOE
snese?c1225
stokea1300
steekc1300
bearc1330
stangc1340
chop1362
broach1377
foinc1380
strikec1390
borea1400
dag?a1400
gorea1400
gridea1400
staira1400
through-girdc1405
thrustc1410
runc1425
to run throughc1425
traversec1425
spitc1430
through-seeka1500
stitch1527
falchiona1529
stab1530
to stab (a person) in1530
stob?1530
rutc1540
rove?c1550
push1551
foxa1566
stoga1572
poniard1593
dirk1599
bestab1600
poach1602
stiletto1613
stocka1640
inrun1653
stoccado1677
dagger1694
whip1699
bayonetc1700
tomahawk1711
stug1722
chiv1725
kittle1786
sabre1790
halberd1825
jab1825
skewer1837
sword1863
poke1866
spear1869
whinger1892
pig-stick1902
shiv1926
1613–4 F. Bacon Charge against W. Talbot in Resuscitatio (1657) 55 This King [Hen. IV of France] likewise, stilletted, by a Rascal votary.
1751 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 30 June (1932) (modernized text) IV. 1765 An excellent and short book; for which, and some other treatises against the Court of Rome, he [sc. Fra Paolo] was stillettoed.
1835 E. Bulwer-Lytton Rienzi II. iv. ii. 108 How many..robbers [have been] stilettoed in the day-light.
2. To mark with a ‘dagger’ or obelus.Apparently an isolated use.
ΚΠ
1841 T. De Quincey Homer & Homeridae in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Nov. 628/1 Aristarchus..cancels and stilettoes the whole passage.
1841–57 T. De Quincey Homer in Wks. VI. 357 (note) ‘Stilettoes’:—i.e., obelises, or places his autocratic obelus before the passage.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online September 2019).
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