I. Lit., an awl, Mart. 3, 16, 2: “aënea,” Col. 6, 5, 4; Pall. Jun. 14, 3: “perforabit aurem ejus subulā,” Vulg. Exod. 21, 6; id. Deut. 15, 17. —
II. Transf., a very small weapon: “subulā armatus,” Sen. Ep. 85, 1; cf. “prov.: subulā leonem excipis,” id. ib. 82, 25.