shiv
Americannoun
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a knife, especially a switchblade.
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Also called shank. an improvised or homemade weapon for cutting or stabbing, especially one honed by a prison inmate or used by a criminal.
verb (used with object)
noun
Usage
What does shiv mean? A shiv is a slang term for a knife, especially a switchblade. It is most often used to refer to improvised blades made in prison and the act of stabbing (shivving) fellow inmates or guards with them.
Etymology
Origin of shiv
First recorded in 1665–75; perhaps alteration of Romani chiv “blade”
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.
This feels like a shiv aimed at Cassidy: The website undermines the claim that vaccines don’t cause autism and says the language remains only because of the promise Kennedy gave to Cassidy and no other.
From Los Angeles Times
Herculano-Houzel’s paper described T. rex as essentially wily enough to sharpen their own shivs.
From Los Angeles Times
His people have said he plans to be strategic with his criticisms — more shiv than sledgehammer.
From Seattle Times
And Shiv . . . shivs it, offering nothing of substance.
From Salon
So to be betrayed by someone he took under his wing is the deepest shiv someone could stick in him, especially on a Starfleet mission.
From New York Times
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.
