knife
Americannoun
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an instrument for cutting, consisting essentially of a thin, sharp-edged, metal blade fitted with a handle.
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a knifelike weapon; dagger or short sword.
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any blade for cutting, as in a tool or machine.
verb (used with object)
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to apply a knife to; cut, stab, etc., with a knife.
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to attempt to defeat or undermine in a secret or underhanded way.
verb (used without object)
idioms
noun
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a cutting instrument consisting of a sharp-edged often pointed blade of metal fitted into a handle or onto a machine
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a similar instrument used as a weapon
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to have a grudge against or victimize someone
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to make a bad situation worse in a deliberately malicious way
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people are determined to harm or put a stop to someone
the knives are out for Stevens
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undergoing a surgical operation
verb
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to cut, stab, or kill with a knife
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to betray, injure, or depose in an underhand way
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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knifesimple
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knifessimple
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have knifedperfect
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has knifedperfect
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am knifingprogressive
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are knifingprogressive
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is knifingprogressive
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have been knifingperfect progressive
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has been knifingperfect progressive
Past
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knifedsimple
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had knifedperfect
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was knifingprogressive
-
were knifingprogressive
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had been knifingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of knife
before 1100; Middle English knif, Old English cnīf; cognate with Dutch knijf, German Kneif, Old Norse knīfr
Explanation
A knife is a sharp tool that's used for slicing or cutting. We suggest using a knife as a kitchen tool instead of as a weapon. A bread knife has a long, serrated edge, and the blade of a pocket knife folds into its handle so you can safely carry it in your pocket. Surgeons use very small knives to make delicate cuts during operations, and various kinds of knives are sometimes used as weapons. To knife, in fact, is to stab or cut with a knife, almost always in a violent way.
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.
See Examples For:
Working in food truck businesses has given Ramirez first-hand knowledge of how to efficiently lay out a mobile kitchen and set up new food vendors for success before they even pick up a knife.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
Let the pastries cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then gently loosen them with a small offset spatula or butter knife.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
"Women should think twice before succumbing to the charm of all these Instagram beauties and going under the knife."
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Squeezed at the edge of the scene is a table with the tools of an artist scattered about—palette knife, tubes of paints, a can of brush cleaner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
He reached into his grandfather’s bag and produced the knife he and May had discovered back at the witch’s cottage, then handed it to Phillip.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
Arrabaca had two axes, a hammer, a machete, six fireworks and three fixed-blade knives, Barnacle said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
The knives were out, but he went again in the qualifiers for Euro 2024.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
And they want the law changed so that large Sikh ceremonial knives are not exempt from the rules on carrying weapons.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
I bought a knife roll that was more expensive than any of the knives inside it.
From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026
The fishermen in Zmeyreka affixed little knives to the bottoms of their boats to keep the vodyaniye away.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
A blocks-long motorcade glides along freeways closed to traffic and knifes through city streets cleared specially for her path.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2024
Speaking to broadcasters during a visit to Kilburn police station in north west London, Mr Sunak said there was "no reason" why such knifes should be on the streets.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2023
He spent nearly $600,000 on the rocking chair John F. Kennedy used in the White House, and another $550,000 for one of Abraham Lincoln’s pocket knifes.
From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2022
Take Can a woman win the election: a sly, mean, ego-saving little canard that knifes both its subject and its verb in order to spare the real actor here.
From Slate ● Jan. 14, 2020
I hear the catch in his voice, and it knifes through me.
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
Anthony Macias knifed through the line to block a punt at the goal line, and Max Magana recovered the ball in the end zone to give Pacifica a 14-6 lead late in the first quarter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2024
Al-Shifa was the same hospital where Jihad had been born five months earlier — five months of searching all day for a little food, of nearly getting knifed over a little flour.
From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2024
Folsom threatened to regain the lead late in the third quarter, but Drew Cofield knifed through the line to block Lincoln Phelps’ 32-yard field-goal attempt and teammate David Montes recovered.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2023
He pointed his arms to the clear spring sky, knifed by the vapor trails of passing airplanes.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 16, 2023
Below the Wheel Tower, they made a wide turn and knifed through the churning water.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
He didn’t shy from knifing through traffic and taking the ball to the basket, oftentimes hitting the floor hard.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 24, 2022
The 66-year-old president was taken to the Sao Paulo hospital for treatment relating to an obstructed intestine following the 2018 knifing.
From Reuters ● Jul. 18, 2021
He scored 22 points and had seven assists in 19 minutes before halftime, knifing through the paint and juking Washington defenders as if on skates with his repaired Achilles’ tendon.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 15, 2021
He pounded the ball into the court with his right hand and pulled it above his head, knifing between two defenders.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 24, 2021
In profile, with pumping thighs and knifing arms, we cut through the shin-whipping grass.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
