# billhook

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. A medieval polearm, fitted to a long handle, sometimes with an L-shaped tine or a spike protruding from the side or the end of the blade for tackling the opponent; a bill.
2. An agricultural hand tool often with a curved or hooked end to the blade used for pruning or cutting thick, woody plants.
3. A part of the knotting mechanism in a reaper-binder or baler (agricultural machinery).
4. Rare form of bill hook (“spiked hook used in shops for hanging papers”).
5. Rare form of bill hook (“sharply pointed spike on honeyguide hatchlings' mandibles”).

## Etymology
Earliest use in weapon (and later, agricultural) sense, bill (“a bladed pike (obsolete)”) + hook; other senses formed anew from various meanings of bill.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/billhook