Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Knife

Knife

(nīf)
,
Noun.
;
pl.
Knives
(nīvz)
.
[OE.
knif
, AS.
cnīf
; akin to D.
knijf
, Icel.
knīfr
, 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
, pocket
knife
, pen
knife
, chopping
knife
, etc.
.
2.
A sword or dagger.
The coward conquest of a wretch’s
knife
.
Shakespeare
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.

Knife

,
Verb.
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 1828 Edition

Knife

KNIFE

,
Noun.
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, &c.
2.
A sword or dagger.

Definition 2024

knife

knife

English

a few kitchen knives: chef's knife, bread knife, steak knife, and paring knife

Noun

knife ‎(plural knives)

  1. A utensil or a tool designed for cutting, consisting of a flat piece of hard material, usually steel or other metal (the blade), usually sharpened on one edge, attached to a handle. The blade may be pointed for piercing.
    • 2007, Scott Smith, The Ruins, page 273
      Jeff was bent low over the backboard, working with the knife, a steady sawing motion, his shirt soaked through with sweat.
  2. A weapon designed with the aforementioned specifications intended for slashing and/or stabbing and too short to be called a sword. A dagger.
  3. Any blade-like part in a tool or a machine designed for cutting, such as the knives for a chipper.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Verb

knife ‎(third-person singular simple present knifes, present participle knifing, simple past and past participle knifed)

  1. (transitive) To cut with a knife.
  2. (transitive) To use a knife to injure or kill by stabbing, slashing, or otherwise using the sharp edge of the knife as a weapon.
  3. (intransitive) To cut through as if with a knife.
  4. (transitive) To betray, especially in the context of a political slate.
  5. (transitive) To positively ignore, especially in order to denigrate. compare cut

Translations

References

  1. ↑ “knife” in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Online.

Etymology

From Middle English knif, from late Old English cnīf, from Old Norse knífr (compare Danish/Swedish/Norwegian kniv), from Proto-Germanic *knībaz (compare Low German Knief, Luxembourgish Knäip ‎(“penknife”)), from *knīpaną ‎(“to pinch”) (compare Dutch knijpen, Low German kniepen, Old High German gniffen), from Proto-Indo-European *gneibʰ- (compare Lithuanian gnýbti, žnýbti ‎(“to pinch”), gnaibis ‎(“pinching”)). Replaced Middle English sax.

The verb knife is attested since the mid 1800s;[1] the variant knive is attested since 1733.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: nīf, IPA(key): /naɪf/
  • Rhymes: -aɪf

Similar Results