dagger

3 definitions • 4 examples

a short, pointed knife that is sharp on both sides, used especially in the past as a weapon:

The young Alexander was said to sleep with a dagger beneath his pillow.

His hand dropped to the dagger tucked into his belt.

the symbol †, usually used to show a footnote (= a note at the bottom of a page of text) if the asterisk symbol * has already been used:

In the printed text, footnotes are indicated by printer's devices — asterisks, daggers, etc.

The dagger symbol originates from the obelus, believed to have been invented by the Homeric scholar Zenodotus.

a short, pointed knife that is sharp on both sides, used esp. in the past as a weapon