swine's-feather

noun

variants or less commonly swine's-pike

ˈ⸗ˌ⸗

plural swine's-feathers also swine's-pikes

: a stake or spear resembling a bayonet formerly fixed in a musket rest or placed in the ground to hinder cavalry

Word History

Etymology

translation of German schweinsfeder; so called from its being originally used as a hunting weapon

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