knife
nounEtymology
From Middle English knyf, knif, from late Old English cnīf, from Old Norse knífr, from Proto-Germanic *knībaz, from *knīpaną (“to pinch”), Proto-Indo-European *gneybʰ- (compare Lithuanian gnýbti, žnýbti (“to pinch”), gnaibis (“pinching”)). Displaced native Middle English sax (“knife”) from Old English seax; and Middle English coutel, qwetyll (“knife”) from Old French coutel. The verb knife is attested since the 1860s; the variant knive is attested since 1733. Cognates Cognate with Yola kunnife (“knife”), North Frisian knif (“knife”), Dutch knijf (“long pointy knife, poniard”), German Knifte (“rifle; thick slicebread”), German Low German Knief (“knife”), Luxembourgish Knäip (“paring knife”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk kniv (“knife”), Faroese knívur (“knife”), Icelandic hnífur, knífur (“knife”), Swedish knif, kniv (“knife”).
Definitions
A utensil or a tool designed for cutting, consisting of a flat piece of hard material,…
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.
- He was looking for a knife to chop some steak.
- Jeff was bent low over the backboard, working with the knife, a steady sawing motion, his shirt soaked through with sweat.
A weapon designed with the aforementioned specifications intended for slashing or…
A weapon designed with the aforementioned specifications intended for slashing or stabbing but 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…
Any blade-like part in a tool or a machine designed for cutting, such as that of a chipper.
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To cut with a knife.
To use a knife to injure or kill by stabbing, slashing, or otherwise using the sharp edge…
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.
- The plane has been hijacked. They've already knifed a guy.
To cut through as if with a knife.
- The boat knifed through the water.
To betray, especially in the context of a political slate.
To positively ignore, especially in order to denigrate
To positively ignore, especially in order to denigrate; compare cut.
The neighborhood
- neighborcold weapon
- neighboredged weapon
- neighbortool
- neighbor007 knife
- neighborair knife
- neighborathame
- neighborballistic knife
- neighborbanana knife
- neighborBarlow knife
- neighborBatangas knife
- neighborbayonet
- neighborbistoury
Derived
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at knife. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at knife. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
8 hops · closes at knife
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA