Long sharp blades that attach to the end of rifles and are used as weapons in close combat.
From French 'baïonnette', supposedly named after Bayonne, France where they were manufactured in the 17th century. Some sources debate this origin, but the city connection is most widely accepted.
The bayonet was invented when soldiers realized that muskets took so long to reload that they needed a sword permanently attached—it's a weapon born from the gap between one gun firing and the next.
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