drawknife

American

[draw-nahyf] / ˈdrɔˌnaɪf /

noun

Carpentry.

a knife with a handle at each end at right angles to the blade, used by drawing over a surface.

drawknife British

/ ˈdrɔːˌnaɪf /

noun

US name: spokeshave. a woodcutting tool with two handles at right angles to the blade, used to shave wood

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

drawknives

plural

Etymology

Origin of drawknife

First recorded in 1630–40; draw + knife

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

These are the poems of a man with eyes like a drawknife, hands like a pickpocket's hands, woven of water and logic and hunger, with no strand of love in them.

From The Guardian • Sep. 18, 2010

A drawknife is the proper tool for shaping the neck.

From The Boy Mechanic: Volume 1 700 Things for Boys to Do by Popular Mechanics Co.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023