English

Noun

Stanley knife ‎(plural Stanley knives)

1. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand) A type of retractable utility knife with a replaceable blade.
   • 1988, Dennis Sloan, The Twenty-Third Little Varmint, 2005, page 126,

     Hotels expect to lose ashtrays, coat hangers and towels, for me it was Stanley knives. I didn′t mind a bit! If anyone bought a ₤35 a carpet, they were more than welcome to a 50 pence knife.

   • 2002, Guy Rundle, Up from the Dead, Peter Craven (editor), The Best Australian Essays 2002, page 187,

     […] the trams floating slowly down Swanston Street, paper-sellers cutting open bundles with Stanley knives, the smell of ground coffee from the downstairs cafe, […] .

   • 2003, Anthony Hulse, Insanity Never Sleeps, Mediaworlg, UK, page 30,

     He gripped his Stanley knife and swung open the door almost detaching it from its hinges.

   • 2004, David Bret, Morrissey: Scandal & Passion, page 34,

     Manchester′s ‘golden boys’, Joy Division, had recently been devastated by the death of their singer, Ian Curtis: that good-looking, sad young man had made a spectacular exit by carving a smile on his face with a Stanley knife before hanging himself.

Synonyms

• (retractable utility knife): utility knife, boxcutter

Translations