machette

machete

noun mah-SHET Rare

Origin: Spanish machete (from macho, sledgehammer)

Usage Note

Machette is a large heavy-bladed knife used for clearing vegetation. French preserves the Spanish form with a double -tt-. In French-speaking tropical territories such as Martinique or Réunion, the machette is a practical agricultural tool; in metropolitan France it appears mainly in news reports as a weapon.

Examples

"Il a coupé les canne à sucre à la machette."

Natural Translation

He cut the sugar cane with a machete.

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