machete

Etymology

From Spanish machete, diminutive of macho (“sledgehammer”), from Latin mattea, possibly from Latin mactare (“slaughter in sacrifice”); cognate with Old French machier, French massue, English mace.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /məˈʃɛ.ti/, /məˈtʃɛ.ti/

• Audio (US, Northern California)

  (file)

Noun

machete (plural machetes)

1. A sword-like tool used for cutting large plants with a chopping motion, or as a weapon. A machete's blade is usually 50 to 65 centimeters (cm) long, and up to three millimeters (mm) thick.

Verb

machete (third-person singular simple present machetes, present participle macheting, simple past and past participle macheted)

1. To cut or chop with a machete.

   After some hours of intense work, we had macheted a path through the jungle to the bank of the river.

2. To hack or chop crudely with a blade other than a machete.

   You can't just machete about with a rapier and expect to succeed; you need to thrust properly.

Anagrams

• meetcha

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish machete.

Noun

machete

1. machete

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish machete.

Noun

machete m (invariable)

1. machete

Etymology

From Spanish machete

Noun

machete m (definite singular macheten, indefinite plural macheter, definite plural machetene)

1. a machete

References

• “machete” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Etymology

From Spanish machete

Noun

machete m (definite singular macheten, indefinite plural machetar, definite plural machetane)

1. a machete

References

• “machete” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish machete.

Noun

machete m (plural machetes)

1. machete

Etymology

macho +‎ -ete

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈt͡ʃete/, [maˈt͡ʃet̪e]

• Audio (Chile)

  (file)

Noun

machete m (plural machetes)

1. machete
2. mediocre method for obtaining somewhat accurate results; shortcut