▪ I. dagger, n.1
(ˈdægə(r))
Forms: 4– dagger; also 4–5 daggere, Sc. dagare, 5 daggare, 5–6 dager, dagar, daggar, 6 dagard.
[Related to F. dague (Sp., It. daga) dagger, and to dag v.2
No such form is known in Old French. Med.L. shows daggarius, -arium, -erius, -ardum (see Du Cange), app. from English, so that the form dagger appears to be really of English formation (? f. dag v.2, of which however only later instances are known). If the form daggard could be assumed as the original, the word might be an augmentative in -ard of F. dague; but, though extracto cultello daggardo occurs in Walsingham, 15th c. (Du Cange), the forms daggarium and dagger are of earlier appearance and better supported.]
1. a. A short stout edged and pointed weapon, like a small sword, used for thrusting and stabbing.
| [a 1375 Fragm. Vetusta xxiv. in Sc. Acts (1844) I. 388 Habeat equum, hauberkion, capilium de ferro, ensem, et cultellum qui dicitur dagare. Ibid. Habeat archum et sagittas, et daggarium et cultellum.] c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 113 He baar..on that oother syde a gay daggere[rime spere]. ― Pard. T. 502 And with thy daggere [so 4 MSS., 3 dagger] looke thou do the same. 1440 Promp. Parv. 111 Daggare, to steke wythe men, pugio. 1463 Paston Lett. No. 466 II. 126 The same dager he slewe hym with. 1535 Bury Wills (1850) 127 W{supt} my dagard. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iii. ii. 157, I feare I wrong the Honourable men, Whose Daggers haue stabb'd Cæsar. 1605 ― Macb. i. iii. 33 Is this a Dagger which I see before me? 1719 Young Busiris iv. i, Loose thy hold, Or I will plant my dagger in thy breast. 1866 Kingsley Hereward iii. 88 ‘You have a dagger in your hand!’ said he. |
† b. ale dagger,
alehouse dagger: see
ale,
B. II.
dagger of lath: the weapon worn by the ‘Vice’ in the old ‘Moralities’.
Obs.| 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse (Shaks. Soc.) 40 All you that will not..weare ale-house daggers at your backes. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 151 A Kings Sonne? If I do not beate thee out of thy Kingdome with a dagger of Lath..Ile neuer weare haire on my face more. 1601 ― Twel. N. iv. ii. 136 Like to the old vice..Who with dagger of lath, in his rage and his wrath, Cries ah ha, to the diuell. |
2. Phr.
daggers' drawing (
fig.): the commencement of open hostilities.
at (or to) daggers' drawing, now
at daggers drawn: on (or to) the point of fighting or quarrelling; in a state of open hostility. Also (rarely)
at daggers' points.
at daggers drawn is found in 1668, but becomes usual only in 19th c.
| 1553 N. Grimalde Cicero's Offices 12 a, They..among themselues are wont to bee at daggers drawing. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 267 That countrie was at defiaunce and daggers drawing with the lande of Græcia. 1652 J. Wadsworth tr. Sandoval's Civ. Wars Sp. 19 The Grandees of the Court were com almost to daggers drawing. 1668 R. L'Estrange Vis. Quev. (1708) 214 Upon this Point, were they at Daggers-drawn with the Emperor. a 1735 Swift Drapier's Lett. vii, A quarrel in a tavern, where all were at daggers-drawing. 1801 M. Edgeworth Castle Rackrent, Three ladies..talked of for his second wife, all at daggers drawn with each other. 1837 Lady L. Stuart in Lady M. W. Montagu's Lett. (1893) I. 104 Both these ladies inherited such..imperial spirit, as to..insure daggers drawing as soon as it should find..opportunity to display itself. 1847 Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor III. xviii. 36 You will be at daggers-drawing..with every order..of persons in the town. 1855 Dickens Dorrit (Househ. ed.) 395/1 Five minutes hence we may be at daggers' points. 1870 R. B. Brough Marston Lynch xxiv. 257 Was Marston still at daggers drawn with his rich uncle? |
3. fig. a. Something that wounds or afflicts grievously.
| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. i. 115 Thou stick'st a dagger in me, I shall neuer see my gold againe. 1605 ― Macb. ii. iii. 45 Where we are there's Daggers in mens Smiles. 1704 Steele Lying Lover ii, This was to me Daggers. 1800 E. Hervey Mourtray Fam. III. 240 Every word he spoke was a dagger to her heart. |
b. to speak daggers or
look daggers: to speak so as to wound, to speak or look fiercely, savagely, or angrily.
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 414, I will speake Daggers to her, but vse none. 1622 Mass. & Dekker Virg. Mart. iv. i, And do thine eyes shoot daggers at that man That brings thee health? 1833 Marryat P. Simple lii, Lord Privilege..looked daggers at me. 1839 H. Ainsworth Jack Shep. iv, A glance..which was meant to speak daggers. |
† 4. fig. (
contempt.) A bravo, braggadocio.
Obs.| 1597 1st Pt. Return fr. Parnass. i. i. 289 Soothe upp this..ingrosser of cringers..this great hilted dagger! Ibid. iv. i. 1236 This bracchidochio..this meere rapier and dagger. |
† 5. A bayonet. (See
bayonet n. 1, 2.)
Obs.| 1688 Capt. J. S. Art of War 27 Draw your Daggers. Fix them in your Musquet. |
6. a. The upright piece of wood nailed to the bars in the middle of a rail or gate.
b. Naut. (See
quot.)
| 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 15 A dagger, which goeth straight downe the middle of the spelles, and is nayled to each spell. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 113 Dagger, a piece of timber that faces on to the poppets of the bilge-ways, and crosses them diagonally, to keep them together. The plank that secures the heads of the poppets is called the dagger-plank. The word ‘dagger’ seems to apply to anything that stands diagonally or aslant. |
c. = dog-shore.
| 1838 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 384/2 At 11 o'clock the dagger was knocked down, and the beautiful vessel..glided majestically into the river. 1896 Strand Mag. XII. 325 Being simultaneously released..these weights instantly fall, and..bring down the daggers, thus removing all obstacle to the passage of the ship down the ways. |
† 7. The horn of a young stag;
= dag n.3 1.
Obs.| 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 684 The second yeare they haue their first hornes, which are called daggers. |
8. Printing. A mark resembling a dagger (
† ), used for marginal references, etc.: also called
obelisk.
double dagger: a mark having each end like the hilt of a dagger ({ddag}), similarly used.
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Dagger..a..Mark in Printing..(† ). 1770 Hist. Printing 259 The Obelisk, or long Cross, erroneously called the single Dagger..The Double Dagger. 1862 Ansted Channel Isl. ii. viii. (ed. 2) 166 Those that are certainly not indigenous being indicated by a little dagger († ) placed before the name. |
9. A collector's name of moths of the genus
Acronycta having a black dagger-like or ψ-like mark near the anal angle of the fore wings.
| 1832 J. Rennie Conspectus Butterf. & Moths 79 The Dark Dagger appears in June. 1862 E. Newman Brit. Moths 249, I do not know why this insect [Acronycta tridens] is called the ‘Dark Dagger’: it is no darker than the ‘Gray Dagger’ [A. Psi]. |
10. pl. Applied locally to various plants with long sword-like leaves, as Sword-grass (
Poa aquatica), Water-flag (
Iris Pseudacorus), etc.
| 1847–78 Halliwell, Daggers, sword-grass. Somerset. 1882 Devonsh. Plant-n. (E.D.S.), Daggers, Iris Pseudacorus, and I. fœtidissima. The name evidently has reference to the sword-like flags or leaves. |
† 11. The name of a celebrated tavern in Holborn
c 1600 (Nares); hence
attrib. as in
dagger-ale,
dagger-frumety,
dagger-pie.
Obs.| 1576 Gascoigne Diet Droonkardes (N.), But we must have March beere, dooble dooble beere, dagger-ale, Rhenish. 1602 Dekker Satiromastix in Hawkins Orig. Eng. Drama III. 115 (N.) Good den, good coosen..When shall we eat another Dagger-pie. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. i. i, My lawyer's clerk, I lighted on last night, In Holborn, at the Dagger. Ibid. v. ii, Her grace would have you eat no more Woolsack pies, Nor Dagger frumety. |
12. Comb., as
dagger-blade,
dagger-hilt,
dagger-stab,
dagger-work;
dagger-like,
dagger-proof adjs.;
† dagger-ale (see 11);
† dagger-cheap a., very cheap, ‘dirt-cheap’;
† dagger-frumety (see 11);
dagger-grass, ?
= sword-grass (see 10);
dagger-knee (
Naut.), see
quot.;
† dagger-man, a man who carries a dagger, a bravo;
† dagger-money, ‘a sum of money formerly paid to the justices of assize on the northern circuit to provide arms against marauders’ (Ogilvie);
† dagger-pie (see 11);
dagger-piece (
Naut.)
= sense 6 b;
dagger-plank (
Naut.), see
quot. under 6 b;
dagger-plant, a plant of the genus
Yucca, also called
Adam's needle, having sharp-edged and pointed leaves;
dagger-wood (
Naut.)
= sense 6 b.
| 1562 Act 5 Eliz. c. 7 §3 *Dagger-blades, Handles, Scabbards. |
| 1592 Bp. Andrewes Serm. Christ's Tempt. vi. (1843) V. 546 We set our wares at a very easy price, he [the devil] may buy us even *dagger-cheap, as we say. |
| 1834 Medwin Angler in Wales I. 262 These tracks were sometimes lost in high *dagger-grass. |
| 1676 Grew Anat. Plants Lect. iv. ii. §18 Crystals..figur'd crossways like a *Dagger-Hilt. |
| c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 114 Any straight hanging knees, not perpendicular to the side of the beam, are in general termed *dagger-knees. |
| 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. iii. 16 M{supr} Starue-Lackey the Rapier and *dagger man. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Dagger-piece, or Dagger-wood, a timber or plank that faces on to the poppets of the bilge⁓ways, and crosses them diagonally, to keep them together. |
| 1866 Treas. Bot., *Dagger plant, a name for Yucca. 1885 A. Brassey The Trades 220 The road was bordered by hedges of cactus and dagger-plants. |
| 1892 Baring-Gould Roar of Sea II. xxix. 141 Miss Travisa..cast a glance at her niece like a *dagger-stab. |
| 1890 Michael Field Tragic Mary i. i. 7, I never saw such *dagger-work..As that which pierced him. Six and fifty wounds! |
▪ II. ˈdagger, n.2 Austral. and
N.Z. [f. dag n.1 3 + -er.] a. pl. (See
quot. 1945.)
| 1878 G. H. Gibson Southerly Busters 179 I'm able for to shear 'em clean, And level as a die; But I prefers to ‘tommy-hawk’, And make the ‘daggers’ fly. 1945 Baker Austral. Lang. iii. 64 Handshears are known as daggers, jingling johnnies. |
b. (See
quot. 1965.)
| 1889 Williams & Reeves Colonial Couplets 28 He could do anything, he swore..Would take what came,..Be ‘brander’, ‘rouse-about’, or ‘dagger’. 1952 Arena XXXI. 4 The dogs, the roussies and penners-up and daggers. 1965 J. S. Gunn Terminology Shearing Industry i. 21 In earlier times, but not often to-day, shedhands known as ‘daggers’ and ‘dag boys’ were given the job of ‘dag picking’ or recovering wool from the dags. |
▪ III. ˈdagger, v. [f. dagger n.1] 1. trans. To stab with a dagger.
| 1658 R. Franck North. Mem. (1821) 36 When Democrasians dagger the crown. 1806 Naval Chron. XV. 453 Rackstraw was daggered, and died immediately. 18.. A. Sutherland Tales of Pilgrim, Brigand of Loire, He was in no danger of being daggered. |
2. Printing. To mark with a dagger (
† ).
| 1875 Furnivall in Thynne's Animadv. Introd. 37 note, The dishes chang'd in the list are daggerd. |
Hence
ˈdaggering vbl. n., stabbing with a dagger;
ppl. a., stabbing, fatal.
| 1694 Westmacott Script. Herb. (1695) 214 Every Month produces sad and fatal Instances of its [Brandy's] daggering force. 1830 Blackw. Mag. XXVII. 55 The screaming and daggering and death-rattling. |