knife
[nahyf]
- 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.
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- to apply a knife to; cut, stab, etc., with a knife.
- to attempt to defeat or undermine in a secret or underhanded way.
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- to move or cleave through something with or as if with a knife: The ship knifed through the heavy seas.
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- under the knife, in surgery; undergoing a medical operation: The patient was under the knife for four hours.
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Origin of knife
before 1100; Middle English knif, Old English cnīf; cognate with Dutch knijf, German Kneif, Old Norse knīfr
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
bayonet, dagger, blade, sword, skewer, machete, sickle, cutter, scalpel, lance, steel, shank, point, edge, cutlass, sabre, switchblade, scythe, bolo, stilettoExamples from the Web for knifes
Contemporary Examples
Many of them, she said, were carrying stones and knifes in their handbags and backpacks, and weren't the least bit afraid.
Historical Examples
So what do we get—we get knifes in the faces, saps on the head—a concussion, you tell me!
Police Your PlanetLester del Rey
Give us some plates, any knifes, and some forks, rinse the glasses.
Seeing and HearingGeorge W. E. Russell
Then he leaps forward alone—he has taken his boots off—and knifes the Priest.
One-Act PlaysVarious
Quivering in the very center of its upper panel was a small knife, and impaled on the knifes blade was the macaroon.
Dorothy Dixon and the Double CousinDorothy Wayne
Do you think any of those old Aztec priests, with their knifes of glass, will sacrifice you on a stone altar?
knife
- 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 someonethe knives are out for Stevens
- under the knife undergoing a surgical operation
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- to cut, stab, or kill with a knife
- to betray, injure, or depose in an underhand way
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Word Origin
Old English cnīf; related to Old Norse knīfr, Middle Low German knīf
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
Word Origin and History for knifes
knife
n.
late Old English cnif, probably from Old Norse knifr, from Proto-Germanic *knibaz (cf. Middle Low German knif, Middle Dutch cnijf, German kneif), of uncertain origin. To further confuse the etymology, there also are forms in -p-, e.g. Dutch knijp, German kneip. French canif "penknife" (mid-15c.) is borrowed from Middle English or Norse.
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knife
v.
1865, from knife (n.). Related: Knifed; knifing.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with knifes
knife
see at gunpoint (knifepoint); under the knife; you could cut it with a knife.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.