knife

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English[edit]

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

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English knyf, knif, from late Old English cnīf, from Old Norse knífr (compare Danish/Swedish/Norwegian kniv), North Frisian Knif 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 *gneybʰ- (compare Lithuanian gnýbti, žnýbti (“to pinch”), gnaibis (“pinching”)). Replaced Middle English sax (“knife”) from Old English seax (“knife, dagger”), and replaced Middle English coutel, qwetyll (“knife”) from Old French coutel (“knife”).

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

Pronunciation[edit]

  • enPR: nīf, IPA(key): /naɪf/
  • Audio (US)
    		(file)
  • Audio (UK)
    		(file)
  • Audio
    		(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪf

Noun[edit]

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 that of a chipper.

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from knife (noun)

Descendants[edit]

  • Sranan Tongo: nefi

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also[edit]

Verb[edit]

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[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

References[edit]

  1. ^ “knife” in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary.

Anagrams[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Noun[edit]

knife

  1. Alternative form of knyf
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=knife&oldid=59370249"