knife
an instrument for cutting, consisting essentially of a thin, sharp-edged, metal blade fitted with a handle.
a knifelike weapon; dagger or short sword.
any blade for cutting, as in a tool or machine.
to apply a knife to; cut, stab, etc., with a knife.
to attempt to defeat or undermine in a secret or underhanded way.
to move or cleave through something with or as if with a knife: The ship knifed through the heavy seas.
Idioms about knife
under the knife, in surgery; undergoing a medical operation: The patient was under the knife for four hours.
Origin of knife
1Other words from knife
- knifelike, adjective
- knifer, noun
Words Nearby knife
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use knife in a sentence
Anything that quickens the movement of money will have far-reaching effects at a time when businesses exist on a solvency knife edge.
Such people could have been harmed by a knife, spear or arrow, Broehl explains.
Women like Mulan didn’t need to go to war in disguise | Bethany Brookshire | September 4, 2020 | Science News For StudentsFor knives that I’m going to carry in a pocket or on my belt, I find that the sweet spot in blade length is between three and four inches.
Three Questions to Ask Yourself Before Buying a Knife | Wes Siler | September 3, 2020 | Outside OnlineThis arrangement helps prevent your knife from snagging on things like seat belts, doors, or bags, helping ensure that the knife doesn’t fall out of your pocket.
Three Questions to Ask Yourself Before Buying a Knife | Wes Siler | September 3, 2020 | Outside OnlineA knife is a tool, and the right tool is determined by the job you’re asking it to perform.
Three Questions to Ask Yourself Before Buying a Knife | Wes Siler | September 3, 2020 | Outside Online
I took out my knife, my Ka-Bar, and knocked his teeth out, but they fell into his throat.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile | Robert Ward | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTHe had a special knife designed to cut the dense loaf, and a ceremony to precede cutting the cake.
One Cake to Rule Them All: How Stollen Stole Our Hearts | Molly Hannon | December 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWielding a curved knife, a young man navigates past the aging structures and into the forest.
But in the next instant, Peters is stepping back to the table and snatching up the knife.
“Stand the f--- away from the knife right now, man,” the cop says.
Pearson flung his knife and fork at it, having forgotten to drop those light weapons when he leaped up.
Hunting the Lions | R.M. BallantyneBlack Sheep looked up at Harry's throat and then at a knife on the dinner-table.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II | Rudyard KiplingA knife would hurt, but Aunty Rosa had told him, a year ago, that if he sucked paint he would die.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II | Rudyard KiplingThe servant-girl came up from the kitchen, took the knife away, and consoled him.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II | Rudyard KiplingBlack Sheep sat at the bottom of the stairs, the table-knife in his hand, and wept for that he had not killed Harry.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II | Rudyard Kipling
British Dictionary definitions for knife
/ (naɪf) /
a cutting instrument consisting of a sharp-edged often pointed blade of metal fitted into a handle or onto a machine
a similar instrument used as a weapon
have one's knife in someone to have a grudge against or victimize someone
twist the knife to make a bad situation worse in a deliberately malicious way
the knives are out for someone British people are determined to harm or put a stop to someone: the knives are out for Stevens
under the knife undergoing a surgical operation
to cut, stab, or kill with a knife
to betray, injure, or depose in an underhand way
Origin of knife
1Derived forms of knife
- knifelike, adjective
- knifer, noun
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 Idioms and Phrases with knife
see at gunpoint (knifepoint); under the knife; you could cut it with a knife.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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