Bowie Knife
Preserved but no longer current.
A long, stout knife with a horn handle and a curved blade some 15 m. long and H in. wide at the hilt, carried by hunters in the Western States of America. So called from Colonel James Bowie (d. 1836), one of the most daring characters m the States.
con dao dài, dày, với tay cầm sừng và lưỡi dao cong
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Bowie Knife” mean?
A long, stout knife with a horn handle and a curved blade some 15 m. long and H in. wide at the hilt, carried by hunters in the Western States of America. So called from Colonel James Bowie (d. 1836), one of the most daring characters m the States.
Is “Bowie Knife” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.