vorpal

An adjective originating in Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" poem in <i>Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Saw There</i>. Due to his description of it, most generally would agree that it deals with slashing damage severing a limb or head; however, it can be stretched to mean any form of weapon that can possibly kill in one blow, considering the word itself is a "nonsense word" created by Carroll. Despite its popularity and history, it still eludes a normal dictionary.