knife
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English knyf, knif, from late Old English cnīf, possibly from Old Norse knífr, from Proto-Germanic *knībaz, from *knīpaną (“to pinch”), Proto-Indo-European *gneybʰ- (compare Lithuanian gnýbti, žnýbti (“to pinch”), gnaibis (“pinching”)). Replaced Middle English sax (“knife”) from Old English seax (“knife, dagger”); and 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]
Noun[edit]
knife (plural knives)
- 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.
- 2007, Scott Smith, The Ruins, page 273
- A weapon designed with the aforementioned specifications intended for slashing and/or stabbing and too short to be called a sword. A dagger.
- 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]
Translations[edit]
utensil or tool designed for cutting
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weapon
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any blade-like part designed for cutting
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- 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
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See also[edit]
- athame
- bayonet
- bistoury
- cake slice, cake-slice
- dagger
- poniard
- scalpel
- stiletto
knife on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Verb[edit]
knife (third-person singular simple present knifes, present participle knifing, simple past and past participle knifed)
- (transitive) To cut with a knife.
- (transitive) To use a knife to injure or kill by stabbing, slashing, or otherwise using the sharp edge of the knife as a weapon.
- She was repeatedly knifed in the chest.
- 1843, The Foreign Quarterly Review, volume 31, Treuttel and Würtz, Treuttel, Jun, and Richter, page 236:
- One day his sergeant began to cane him, on which, seizing his knife, he knifed the sergeant : he knifed the privates : he knifed until he was finally overpowered, and, brought before a court-martial, was condemned to fifteen years at the galleys.
- (intransitive) To cut through as if with a knife.
- (transitive) To betray, especially in the context of a political slate.
- (transitive) To positively ignore, especially in order to denigrate. compare cut
Translations[edit]
to use a knife to cut
to use a knife to injure or kill
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to cut through as if with a knife
- 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.
References[edit]
Anagrams[edit]
Middle English[edit]
Noun[edit]
knife
- Alternative form of knyf
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Old Norse
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- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 1-syllable words
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- Rhymes:English/aɪf
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