case knife

English

Noun

case knife (plural case knives)

1. A knife carried in a sheath or case.

   Synonym: sheath knife

   • 1712 August 1 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “MONDAY, July 21, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 570; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume VI, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:

     he called for a Case-Knife, and applying the Edge of it to his Mouth, converted it into a musical Instrument

     The spelling has been modernized.

2. A large table knife of a kind formerly kept in a case.

References

• “case knife”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.