Machete kills

Type of broad and heavy knife

For other uses, see Machete (disambiguation).

A machete (; Spanish pronunciation:[maˈtʃete]) is a broad blade used either as an agricultural implement similar to an axe, or in combat like a long-bladed knife.

The blade is typically 30 to 66 centimetres (12 to 26 in) long and usually under 3 millimetres (1⁄8 in) thick. In the Spanish language, the word is possibly a diminutive form of the word macho, which was used to refer to sledgehammers.^[1] Alternatively, its origin may be machaera, the name given by the Greeks and Romans to the falcata.^[2][3] It is the origin of the English language equivalent term matchet,^[4] though this is rarely used.

In much of the English-speaking Caribbean, such as Jamaica,^[5] Barbados, Guyana, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago, the term cutlass is used for these agricultural tools.^[6]

Uses

Agriculture

In va