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Knife - 10 dictionary results

knife

  [nahyf] noun, plural knives  [nahyvz] , verb, knifed, knif⋅ing.
Use Knife in a Sentence
–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

Knife River

 
–noun
a river in W central North Dakota, flowing E to the Missouri River. 165 mi. (265 km) long.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Knife
knife   (nīf)   
n.   pl. knives (nīvz)
  1. A cutting instrument consisting of a sharp blade attached to a handle.
  2. A cutting edge; a blade.
v.   knifed, knif·ing, knifes

v.   tr.
  1. To use a knife on, especially to stab; wound with a knife.
  2. 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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.

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]

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.]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Knife
Spanish: cuchillo,
German: das Messer,
Japanese: ナイフ
More Translations »

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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: knife
Pronunciation: 'nIf
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural knives /'nIvz/
1 : any of variousinstruments used in surgery primarily to sever tissues: as a : a cutting instrument consisting of a sharp blade attached to a handle b : an instrument that cuts bymeans of an electrical current
2 : SURGERY 3 —usually used in the phrase under the knifeknife this morning> knife>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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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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knife

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

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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