shiv

A shiv is a slang term for a knife, especially a switchblade. It is most often used to refer to improvised blades made in prison and the act of stabbing (shivving) fellow inmates or guards with them.

Shiv originates in British thieves’ slang term for a “knife,” chive or chiv, dating back to the 17th century. It is thought that chive and chiv are rooted in a Romani word for “blade.”

Shiv is an American English version of chive showing up as early as 1897. In his memoir The Road, Jack London chronicles his days as a hobo. He documents a lot of slang he encounters while hopping trains, including shiv for”knife.”

Shiv (shivving, shivved) has been used as a verb since at least the 1930s. In the story “Dream Street Rose” by Damon Runyon, for instance, a character is shivved (“stabbed”) by another. Shiv spread as a slang term in prisons, especially for knives improvised out of material at hand.

Shiv is most often used to refer specifically to homemade knives in prison. A similar term to shiv is shank.

“Welcome to Oz!”

The prison or the magical realm?

“The magical realm”

*slowly taking shiv away from Tin Man’s throat*

Good

— sweaty five dollars (@iscoff) May 3, 2018

More examples of shiv:

“I broke one of my rules earlier today and went into Trader Joe’s (on a holiday!) — looked like a prison riot and I was without my shiv!”
—@elitejano, September 2008

“Dough Boy was the shot-caller, or the leader of his respective tribe, responsible for everything from negotiating with other factions to approving a well-placed shiv in someone’s abdomen.”
—Tim Alberta, Politico, September 2018

This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.