dagger

n. small knife; cross shaped sign (used in printing)

A dagger (from Vulgar Latin: 'daca' - a Dacian knife) is a typically double-edged blade used for stabbing or thrusting. They often fulfil the role of a secondary defense weapon in close combat. In most cases, a tang extends into the handle along the centreline of the blade.Daggers may be roughly differentiated from knives on the basis that daggers are intended primarily for stabbing whereas knives are usually single-edged and intended mostly for cutting. However, many or perhaps most knives and daggers are usually very capable of either stabbing or cutting.Much like battle axes, daggers evolved out of prehistoric tools. They were initially made of flint, ivory, or even bone and were used as weapons since the earliest periods of human civilization. The earliest metal daggers appear in the Bronze Age, in the 3rd millennium BC, predating the sword, which essentially developed from oversized daggers. Although the standard dagger would at no time be very effective against axes, spears, or even maces due to its limited reach, it was an important step towards the development of a more useful close-combat weapon, the sword.
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Noun
1. a short knife with a pointed blade used for piercing or stabbing
(synonym) sticker
(hypernym) knife
(hyponym) dirk
(part-meronym) haft, helve
2. a character used in printing to indicate a cross reference or footnote
(synonym) obelisk
(hypernym) character, grapheme, graphic symbol

(v. t.)
To pierce with a dagger; to stab.
  

(n.)
A timber placed diagonally in a ship's frame.
  

(n.)
A short weapon used for stabbing. This is the general term: cf. Poniard, Stiletto, Bowie knife, Dirk, Misericorde, Anlace.
  

(n.)
A mark of reference in the form of a dagger [/]. It is the second in order when more than one reference occurs on a page; -- called also obelisk.
  

A short pointed knife. There were many forms of daggers worn during the high middle ages; they are more frequently worn in illuminations than are swords , at least when knights and squires were at court.