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shiv

[shiv]

Origin

noun Slang.

a knife, especially a switchblade.

Origin:
1665–75; perhaps alteration of chiv blade < Romany

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To shiv

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Shiv is always a great word to know.

So is oyster. Does it mean:

excessive absorption in self-analysis or focus on a single issue

a closemouthed or uncommunicative person, especially one who keeps secrets well

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Collins

World English Dictionary

shiv (ʃɪv)

—n
	a variant spelling of chiv

chiv or slang shiv (tʃɪv, ʃɪv)

—n
1.	a knife

—vb , chivs, chivving, chivved, shivs, shivving, shivved
2.	to stab (someone)

[C17: perhaps from Romany chiv blade]

shiv or slang shiv

—n

—vb

[C17: perhaps from Romany chiv blade]

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

Word Origin & History

shiv

"a razor," 1915, variant of chive, thieves' cant word for "knife" (1673), of unknown origin.

Slang Dictionary

shiv definition

[ʃɪv]
and chiv

n.
a knife. (Underworld.) : Swiftly and silently his shiv found its way up under Rocko's ribs. All for a silly dame.
tv.
to stab someone. (Underworld.) : The boss told Joel Cairo to get Sam one way or the other—shiv him, burn him, clobber him—but get him.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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