butter knife

American  

noun

1. a small knife with a dull blade, for cutting, serving, or spreading butter.

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Etymology

Origin of butter knife

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

butter knife

Crisp cookies soften into clouds of lightly sweetened cream, layered with jam or mascarpone, until the whole thing collapses just enough to make slicing with a butter knife feel like a small act of rebellion.

From Salon ● Dec. 18, 2025

This felt manageable until I found myself, a few weeks in, sawing at a kabocha squash with a butter knife.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2025

Cool muffins on a rack for 5 minutes, then use a thin offset spatula or butter knife to extract each from its cup.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 23, 2024

Burns’s prose pours out in dense, heavily referential paragraphs you may need more than a butter knife to cut through, and the forward engine of plot feels more like a suggestion than a fact.

From New York Times ● Jan. 13, 2024

G’ma shouts, her pouf of white hair standing up all over her head like she stuck a butter knife in a toaster.

From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone