knives

a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Collins

World English Dictionary

knife (naɪf)

—n , pl knives
1.	a cutting instrument consisting of a sharp-edged often pointed blade of metal fitted into a handle or onto a machine
2.	a similar instrument used as a weapon
3.	have one's knife in someone to have a grudge against or victimize someone
4.	twist the knife to make a bad situation worse in a deliberately malicious way
5.	(Brit) the knives are out for someone people are determined to harm or put a stop to someone: the knives are out for Stevens
6.	under the knife undergoing a surgical operation

—vb
7.	to cut, stab, or kill with a knife
8.	to betray, injure, or depose in an underhand way

[Old English cnīf; related to Old Norse knīfr, Middle Low German knīf]

'knifelike

—*adj*

'knifer

—n

knives (naɪvz)

—n
	the plural of knife

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

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.

Easton

Bible Dictionary

Knife definition

(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
Cite This Source

Example sentences

As she and my father sat across the table wielding huge knives, they argued

incessantly.

Often done with crude knives in one of their huts, the painful operations can

cause life-long health risks.

These tools, also called tobacco knives, come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

The leopard, which suffered injuries caused by knives and batons, died later in

the evening at a veterinary center.

Remove ads like these. Upgrade now!

flat silver flatware Hopewell juggle juggler knife

Matching Quote

"Ratcliffe was a great statesman. The smoothness of his manipulation was marvelous. No other man in politics, indeed no other man who had ever been in politics in this country, could—his admirers said—have brought together so many hostile interests and made so fantastic a combination. Some men went so far as to maintain that he would "rope in the President himself before the old man had time to swap knives with him." The beauty of his work consisted in the skill with which he evaded questions of principle. As he wisely said, the issue now involved was not one of principle but of power."

-Henry Brooks Adams