Knife definition |Dictionary.com

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knife

10 dictionary results for: Knife

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

knife

[nahyf] Pronunciation Key noun, plural knives

[nahyvz] Pronunciation Key, verb, knifed, knif·ing.

–noun

1.	an instrument for cutting, consisting essentially of a thin, sharp-edged, metal blade fitted with a handle.

2.	a knifelike weapon; dagger or short sword.

3.	any blade for cutting, as in a tool or machine.

–verb (used with object)

4.	to apply a knife to; cut, stab, etc., with a knife.

5.	to attempt to defeat or undermine in a secret or underhanded way.

–verb (used without object)

6.	to move or cleave through something with or as if with a knife: The ship knifed through the heavy seas.

—Idiom

7.	under the knife, in surgery; undergoing a medical operation: The patient was under the knife for four hours.

[Origin: bef. 1100; ME knif, OE cnīf; c. D knijf, G Kneif, ON knīfr

]

—Related forms

knifelike, adjective

knifer, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

Knife River

–noun

a river in W central North Dakota, flowing E to the Missouri River. 165 mi. (265 km) long.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

knife (nīf) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. knives (nīvz)

A cutting instrument consisting of a sharp blade attached to a handle.
A cutting edge; a blade.

v. knifed, knif·ing, knifes

v. tr.

To use a knife on, especially to stab; wound with a knife.
Informal To betray or attempt to defeat by underhand means.

v. intr.
To cut or slash a way through something with or as if with a knife: The boat knifed through the waves.

[Middle English knif, from Old English cnīf, from Old Norse knīfr.]

knif'er n.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
knife

late O.E. cnif, from O.N. knifr, from P.Gmc. *knibaz (cf. M.L.G. knif, M.Du. cnijf, Ger. kneip), of uncertain origin. The verb is first attested 1865, from the noun. Fr. canif "penknife" (1441) is borrowed from M.E. or O.N.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

knife
noun
1.	edge tool used as a cutting instrument; has a pointed blade with a sharp edge and a handle
2.	a weapon with a handle and blade with a sharp point
3.	any long thin projection that is transient; "tongues of flame licked at the walls"; "rifles exploded quick knives of fire into the dark" [syn: tongue]
verb
1.	use a knife on; "The victim was knifed to death"

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American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

knife

see at gunpoint (knifepoint); under the knife; you could cut it with a knife.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Knife

Knife\, n.; pl. Knives. [OE. knif, AS. cn[=i]f; akin to D. knijf, Icel. kn[=i]fr, Sw. knif, Dan. kniv.]

1. An instrument consisting of a thin blade, usually of steel and having a sharp edge for cutting, fastened to a handle, but of many different forms and names for different uses; as, table knife, drawing knife, putty knife, pallet knife, pocketknife, penknife, chopping knife, etc..

2. A sword or dagger.

The coward conquest of a wretch's knife. --Shak.

Knife grass (Bot.) a tropical American sedge (Scleria latifolia), having leaves with a very sharp and hard edge, like a knife.

War to the knife, mortal combat; a conflict carried to the last extremity.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Knife

Knife\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Knifed; p. pr. & vb. n. Knifing.]

1. (Hort.) To prune with the knife.

2. To cut or stab with a knife. [Low]

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Knife

Knife\, v. t. Fig.: To stab in the back; to try to defeat by underhand means, esp. in politics; to vote or work secretly against (a candidate of one's own party). [Slang, U. S.]

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Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Knife

(1.) Heb. hereb, "the waster," a sharp instrument for circumcision (Josh. 5:2, 3, lit. "knives of flint;" comp. Ex. 4:25); a razor (Ezek. 5:1); a graving tool (Ex. 20:25); an axe (Ezek. 26:9). (2.) Heb. maakeleth, a large knife for slaughtering and cutting up food (Gen. 22:6, 10; Prov. 30:14). (3.) Heb. sakkin, a knife for any purpose, a table knife (Prov. 23:2). (4.) Heb. mahalaph, a butcher's knife for slaughtering the victims offered in sacrifice (Ezra 1:9). (5.) Smaller knives (Heb. ta'ar, Jer. 36:26) were used for sharpening pens. The pruning-knives mentioned in Isa. 18:5 (Heb. mizmaroth) were probably curved knives.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

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