Adjacent Words

Knife definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

KNIFE,n. nife; plu. knives; nives.
1. A cutting instrument with a sharp edge. Knives are of various shapes and sizes, adapted to their respective uses; as table knives; carving knives or carvers; penknives, etc.
2. A sword or dagger.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: edge tool used as a cutting instrument; has a pointed blade with a sharp edge and a handle
2: a weapon with a handle and blade with a sharp point
3: any long thin projection that is transient; "tongues of flame licked at the walls"; "rifles exploded quick knives of fire into the dark" [syn: tongue, knife] v
1: use a knife on; "The victim was knifed to death" [syn: knife, stab]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural knives) Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English knif, from Old English cn?f, perhaps from Old Norse kn?fr; akin to Middle Low German kn?f knife Date: before 12th century 1. a. a cutting instrument consisting of a sharp blade fastened to a handle b. a weapon resembling a knife 2. a sharp cutting blade or tool in a machine 3. surgery 4 — usually used in the phrase under the knife • knifelike adjective II. verb (knifed; knifing) Date: 1865 transitive verb 1. to use a knife on; specifically to stab, slash, or wound with a knife 2. to cut, mark, or spread with a knife 3. to try to defeat by underhanded means 4. to move like a knife in <birds knifing the autumn sky> intransitive verb to cut a way with or as if with a knife blade <the cruiser knifed through the heavy seas>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. (pl. knives) 1 a a metal blade used as a cutting tool with usu. one long sharp edge fixed rigidly in a handle or hinged (cf. PENKNIFE). b a similar tool used as a weapon. 2 a cutting-blade forming part of a machine. 3 (as the knife) a surgical operation or operations. --v.tr. 1 cut or stab with a knife. 2 sl. bring about the defeat of (a person) by underhand means. Phrases and idioms: at knife-point threatened with a knife or an ultimatum etc. before you can say knife colloq. very quickly or suddenly. get one's knife into treat maliciously or vindictively, persecute. knife-board a board on which knives are cleaned. knife-edge 1 the edge of a knife. 2 a position of extreme danger or uncertainty. 3 a steel wedge on which a pendulum etc. oscillates. 4 = AR Usage: TE. knife-grinder 1 a travelling sharpener of knives etc. 2 a person who grinds knives etc. during their manufacture. knife-machine a machine for cleaning knives. knife-pleat a narrow flat pleat on a skirt etc., usu. overlapping another. knife-rest a metal or glass support for a carving-knife or -fork at table. knife-throwing a circus etc. act in which knives are thrown at targets. that one could cut with a knife colloq. (of an accent, atmosphere, etc.) very obvious, oppressive, etc. Derivatives: knifelike adj. knifer n. Etymology: OE cnif f. ON knífr f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Knife Knife, n.; pl. Knives. [OE. knif, AS. cn[=i]f; akin to D. knijf, Icel. kn[=i]fr, Sw. knif, Dan. kniv.] 1. An instrument consisting of a thin blade, usually of steel and having a sharp edge for cutting, fastened to a handle, but of many different forms and names for different uses; as, table knife, drawing knife, putty knife, pallet knife, pocketknife, penknife, chopping knife, etc.. 2. A sword or dagger. The coward conquest of a wretch's knife. --Shak. Knife grass (Bot.) a tropical American sedge (Scleria latifolia), having leaves with a very sharp and hard edge, like a knife. War to the knife, mortal combat; a conflict carried to the last extremity.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Knife Knife, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Knifed; p. pr. & vb. n. Knifing.] 1. (Hort.) To prune with the knife. 2. To cut or stab with a knife. [Low]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Knife Knife, v. t. Fig.: To stab in the back; to try to defeat by underhand means, esp. in politics; to vote or work secretly against (a candidate of one's own party). [Slang, U. S.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(knives, knifes, knifing, knifed) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. Note: 'knives' is the plural form of the noun and 'knifes' is the third person singular of the present tense of the verb. 1. A knife is a tool for cutting or a weapon and consists of a flat piece of metal with a sharp edge on the end of a handle. ...a knife and fork... Two robbers broke into her home, held a knife to her throat and stole her savings. N-COUNT 2. To knife someone means to attack and injure them with a knife. Dawson takes revenge on the man by knifing him to death... VERB: V n prep 3. A surgeon's knife is a piece of equipment used to cut flesh and organs during operations. It is made of metal and has a very thin sharp edge. = scalpel N-COUNT • If you go under the knife, you have an operation in a hospital. Kelly was about to go under the knife when her surgeon stopped everything. PHRASE: PHR after v 4. see also carving knife, fish knife, flick knife, palette knife, paper knife, pocket knife, Stanley knife 5. If someone does something like a knife through butter or like a hot knife through butter, they do it very easily. Spending by Japanese companies has left them more competitive than companies in other nations. They will be cutting through the competition like a hot knife through butter. PHRASE: knife inflects, PHR after v 6. If you have been in a place where there was a very tense atmosphere, you can say that you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife. (mainly BRIT) PHRASE 7. If a lot of people want something unpleasant to happen to someone, for example if they want them to lose their job, you can say that the knives are out for that person. (mainly BRIT) The Party knives are out for the leader. PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR for n 8. If you twist the knife or if you turn the knife in someone's wound, you do or say something to make an unpleasant situation they are in even more unpleasant. Travis twisted the knife by laughing at her... PHRASE: V inflects

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(1.) Heb. hereb, "the waster," a sharp instrument for circumcision (Josh. 5:2, 3, lit. "knives of flint;" comp. Ex. 4:25); a razor (Ezek. 5:1); a graving tool (Ex. 20:25); an axe (Ezek. 26:9).

(2.) Heb. maakeleth, a large knife for slaughtering and cutting up food (Gen. 22:6, 10; Prov. 30:14).

(3.) Heb. sakkin, a knife for any purpose, a table knife (Prov. 23:2).

(4.) Heb. mahalaph, a butcher's knife for slaughtering the victims offered in sacrifice (Ezra 1:9).

(5.) Smaller knives (Heb. ta'ar, Jer. 36:26) were used for sharpening pens. The pruning-knives mentioned in Isa. 18:5 (Heb. mizmaroth) were probably curved knives.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

nif:

(1) ma'akheleth, literally, an instrument for eating; but used of large knives for slaying animals, cutting up a carcass or a sacrificial victim (Ge 22:6,10; Jud 19:29; Pr 30:14).

(2) cherebh, rendered generally "sword," but in Jos 5:2,3 of stone knives for circumcision (compare Ex 4:25), probably of similar knives in 1Ki 18:28, used by Baal prophets in gashing themselves. In Eze 5:12 the King James Version, "knife," probably better the Revised Version (British and American), "sword."

(3) ta`ar, usually rendered "razor," in combination with ha-copher, "knife of the writer," or "penknife" (Jer 36:23).

(4) machalaphim, "slaughter-knives" (Ezr 1:9).

(5) sakkin, Aramaic, "knife" (Pr 23:2). Early knives were commonly made of sharp stones, especially of flint, later of bronze and iron. The-former remained in use in religious ceremonies long after the latter were in common use.

Knives were not generally used at meals, meats being cut into bits before served, and bread being. broken into fragments. Herod used a knife for paring apples, and attempted suicide with the instrument (Josephus, Ant, XVII, vii, 1; BJ, I, xxxiii, 7).

Edward Bagby Pollard

Moby Thesaurus

ax, barong, bayonet, blade, bolo, bowie, bowie knife, cold steel, cut, cutlery, cutter, dagger, dining utensils, dirk, edge tool, edge tools, flat silver, flatware, forks, gravity knife, hollow ware, impale, knives, lance, machete, naked steel, parang, pierce, pigsticker, play dirty pool, play one false, plunge in, point, poniard, prove false, puncturer, run through, saber, sharpener, silver, silver plate, silverware, slash, spear, spike, spit, spoons, stab, stainless-steel ware, steel, stick, stiletto, switchblade, switchblade knife, sword, tablespoon, tableware, teaspoon, toad sticker, transfix, transpierce, whittle, wound