Melee weapon

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A melee weapon (from French, "mixed", referring to groups of fighters interlocked in close combat) is any weapon that does not involve a projectile — that is, both the user and target of the weapon are in contact with it simultaneously in normal use. As such these do not include statically emplaced weapons, like a boobytrap or burning devices, but are carried by the troops. A melee weapon is a type of "cold weapon".

There are two basic divisions — edged weapons, of which examples include swords, spears, axes and knives and blunt weapons, such as clubs and maces.

The basic principle of edged weapons is to increase the user's pressure by concentrating force applied onto a smaller surface area, such as an edge or point, thus more easily penetrating the opponent's body to cause wounds. Because most of the effectiveness of edged weapons depends upon breaking the skin of an opponent, they lose much of their usefulness when pitted against armor.

Blunt weapons rely solely on mass and raw impact energy to disable opponents through broken bones, internal trauma or concussions. Historically, maces and flails were developed and used to combat armored infantry, such as knights, because of their ability to cause injuries even "through" plate armor, and were also very effective against flexible armor, such as chain mail. However, blunt weapons are usually heavier than edged weapons, as the extra weight is needed to cause greater damage, especially through armor. This often makes blunt weapons more difficult to maneuver.

Compare: Ranged weapons.