‖ couteau
(kuto)
[F.:—OF. coutel: see next.]
A large knife worn as a weapon. (Frequently used in English in 18th c.) couteau de chasse (F.): hunting-knife.
| 1677 Lond. Gaz. No. 1198. 4 A small Coûteau walking Sword. 1743 Shenstone Wks. & Lett. (1777) III. 73 In the Piazzas, Covent Garden, [pick-pockets]..come in large bodies, armed with couteaus. 1748 Richardson Clarissa Wks. 1883 VI. 87 A couteau generally by his side. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. xxix, Drawing a large couteau from his side-pocket. 1782 Fashionable Follies I. 153 They each put on a long sword, instead of a couteau. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet ch. xxiii, A gentleman, plainly dressed in a riding-habit..without any arms except a couteau-de-chasse. |