Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

fascine knife

/fəˈsin ˌnaɪf/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: fasc-ine knife
IPA: /fəˈsin ˌnaɪf/

24

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A large, heavy knife or short sword used by 17th- to 19th-century artillery and infantry soldiers as a sidearm and a tool for cutting fascines (“cylindrical bundles of small sticks of wood, used for strengthening purposes”) and other things.

Example Sentences

"2000 Canteens. 600 Camp Kettles. 200 Fascine Knives. […] It is to be presumed the troops will be provided with these articles."
"The [artillery] men have a short rifle and bayonet, and carry also a fascine knife; 10 rounds of ammunition in the pouch."
"The private should have a side arm of the following description: A short sword, about 20 inches long and 2½ inches wide at the grip; the blade to be ground sharp on one side and provided with saw teeth on the other; have a brass guard and buckhorn grip, and to be carried in a leather scabbard on a frog and common black belt. This is called in Europe a fascine knife, and a very useful implement it is in camp and on the field."
"Verily the man must feel as though he were in a dream; only a short time before, at a shoemaker's ordinary work, the knocking of his hammer mingling with the sighs of a sick wife, and now, fascine knife on hip, helmet on closely cropped head, officers' commands in ear, crowds of people, drums, music, and the shrill whistle of the locomotive!—to march far away to Bohemia; […]"
"[I]f he were furnished with a hundred natives—whom he would get from the population on the coast—supplied with axes and fascine-knives, he would undertake to lead a caravan of beasts of burden to the Kenia without any delay worth mentioning."
"Sappeur sections carry in addition a mattock or a pick apiece, and each ammunition carrier also carries a pick, a fascine knife, or a saw."

Etymology

From fascine + knife, from one use of such knives which was to cut wood for fascines and gabions (“cylindrical wicker baskets or cages filled with earth or stones and used in fortifications, etc.”).

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /fəˈsin ˌnaɪf/
British English: /fəˈsiːn ˌnaɪf/

Inflected Forms

fascine knives (plural)

Frequently Paired Words

machete

Questions

How do you pronounce fascine knife?: The recorded pronunciation is /fəˈsin ˌnaɪf/.
What does fascine knife mean?: A large, heavy knife or short sword used by 17th- to 19th-century artillery and infantry soldiers as a sidearm and a tool for cutting fascines (“cylindrical bundles of small sticks of wood, used for strengthening purposes”) and other things.
Where does fascine knife come from?: From fascine + knife, from one use of such knives which was to cut wood for fascines and gabions (“cylindrical wicker baskets or cages filled with earth or stones and used in fortifications, etc.”).

How to pronounce fascine knife

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