Pl. -oes. Also 7 stilletta, stelletto, steeletto, 7–8 steletto, stilleto, stilletto. [a. It. stiletto, dim. of stilo dagger, STYLUS: see -ET. Cf. STYLET.]
1. A short dagger with a blade thick in proportion to its breadth.
1611. Coryat, Crudities, 275. They [the Venetian ‘Braves’] wander abroad very late in the night … armed with a privy coat of maile,… and a little sharpe dagger called a stiletto.
1627. H. Burton, Bait. Pope’s Bull, 44. What is it but pistols, stellettoes, poysons, your vsuall weapons?
1629. Quarles, Argalus & Parthenia, I. 12. A keene Steeletto in his trembling hand He rudely grip’d.
1674. Cotton, Fair One of Tunis, 136. He … would a thousand times have plunged his Steeletto into his own bosom, had not he had a design to have stab’d it into that of his Rival.
1711. Puckle, Club (1817), 7. Some use their wits as Bravoes wear stelettoes, not for defence but mischief.
1736. B. Higgons, Rem. on Burnet, I. 59. As Dark-lanthorns and Stilettoes are unlawful Weapons to attack his Person.
1783. Justamond, trans. Raynal’s Hist. Indies, V. 163. Besides these, the Turks have a dagger, and the Moors a stiletto.
1841. G. P. R. James, Brigand, v. Employing the stiletto or the drug when it suited his purpose to get rid of troublesome friends.
1864. Reader, 18 June, 771/1. She discovers a stiletto hidden in a pond.
transf. and fig. 1673. Marvell, Reh. Transp., II. 315. Your whole Book of Ecclesiastical Politie having been Writ not with a Pen but a Stilletto.
1749. Bolingbroke, Lett. Patriotism, 145. Simulation is a stiletto, not only an offensive, but an unlawful weapon.
1843. Macaulay, Ess., Addison (1897), 738. [Pope’s] own life was one long series of tricks…. He was all stiletto and mask.
1844. Kinglake, Eöthen, xi. The fleas of all nations were there:—the wary, watchful ‘pulce’ with his poisoned stiletto [etc.].
1872. Lowell, Milton, Pr. Wks. 1890, IV. 85. But the thin stiletto of Macchiavelli is a more effective weapon than these fantastic arms of his [Milton’s].
† 2. Short for stiletto beard: see 5. Obs. rare–1.
1638. Ford, Fancies, III. i. The very he that Wears a stiletto on his chin.
† 3. A surgical instrument: ? = STYLET. Obs.
1698. Lister, Journ. Paris (1699), 233. He boldly thrusts in a broad Lancet or Stilleto into the middle of the Muscle of the Thigh near the Anus.
4. Needlework, etc. A small pointed instrument for making eyelet-holes.
1828. Webster, Stiletto, a pointed instrument for making eyelet holes in working muslin.
1862. Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit., II. No. 6513, Button-hooks, nail files, corkscrews, stilettoes, tweezers, nut picks, &c.
1879. E. A. Davidson, Pretty Arts, 147–8. This material … may with ease be penetrated by the stiletto or a strong needle.
5. attrib. and Comb., as stiletto blade, wound; stiletto-like adj.; † stiletto beard, a pointed beard; so † stiletto cut, † fashion; stiletto-fly (see quot. 1895).
1621. J. Taylor (Water P.), Superbiæ Flagellum, C 8. Some [beards] sharpe Steletto fashion, dagger like.
1635. Davenant, Tri. Prince d’Amour, 4. Two … swaggering Souldiers,… their Beards mishapen, with long whiskers of the Stilletto cut.
a. 1660. Prince d’Amour, etc. 127. The Steeletto beard, O it makes me afraid It is so sharp beneath.
1821. Scott, Kenilw., xxxvi. By using the three-cornered stiletto-blade as a wedge, he forced open the slender silver hinges of the casket.
1851. H. Melville, Whale, xlix. With a stiletto-like cry … the negro yelled out.
1865. Daily Tel., 26 Oct., 2/1. There was a mean shrinking from a condemnation of Lord Palmerston’s life and policy, and a stiletto-like smiting in the back.
1895. Comstock, Man. Insects, 464. Family Therevidæ…. The abdomen is long and tapering, suggesting the name stiletto-flies.
1911. Daily News, 12 Jan., 2. The same day her husband’s body was found on the seashore [of Naples] bearing the marks of many stiletto wounds.
