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jack-knife

 - 2 dictionary results

jack⋅knife

[jak-nahyf] noun, plural -knives, verb, -knifed, -knif⋅ing, adjective
–noun
1. a large pocketknife.
2. Fancy Diving. a dive in which the diver bends in midair to touch the toes, keeping the legs straight, and then straightens out.
–verb (used without object)
3. to bend or double over like a jackknife: The prizefighter jackknifed and fell when he was hit in the stomach.
4. (of a trailer truck) to have the cab and trailer swivel at the linkage until they form a V shape, as the result of an abrupt stop or accident.
5. (in diving) to perform a jackknife.
6. to move rapidly at an abrupt angle.
–verb (used with object)
7. to cause to jackknife: The blow jackknifed the prizefighter.
8. to cut with a jackknife.
–adjective
9. resembling a jackknife, as in its shape, function, or manner of opening and folding.

Origin:
1705–15, Americanism; jack 1 (cf. jockteleg ) + knife
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

jack-knife 
1711, perhaps so called because it originally was associated with sailors. As a type of dive, from 1922. The verb is attested from 1776.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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