Stiletto Stiletto A stiletto () is a knife or dagger with a long slender blade and needle-like point, primarily intended as a stabbing weapon. The stiletto blade's narrow cross-section and acuminated tip reduces friction upon entry, allowing the blade to penetrate deeply. Some consider the stiletto a form of dagger, but most stilettos are specialized thrusting weapons not designed for cutting or slashing, even with edged examples. Over time, the term "stiletto" has been used as a general descriptive term for a variety of knife blades exhibiting a narrow blade with minimal cutting surfaces and a needle-like point, such as the
Name-bearing type illustration or description itself), even if no longer in existence. Name-bearing type Under the "International Code of Zoological Nomenclature" ("Code"), the name-bearing type is the biological type that determines the application of a name. Each animal taxon regulated by the "Code" at least potentially has a name-bearing type. The name-bearing type can be either a type genus (family group), type species (genus group), or one or more type specimens (species group). For example, the name "Mabuya maculata" (Gray, 1839) has often been used for the Noronha skink (currently "Trachylepis atlantica"), but because the name-bearing type of the former, a lizard