choil Cutlery.
The name of the indentation in a pocket-knife where the edge of the blade adjoins the ‘tang’ or thick part by which it is hafted; or the corresponding part of any knife where the cutting edge ends. Hence choil v., to make this indention or slope in a knife; choiler, an instrument for making the choil.
Choil has been used in Sheffield from before the memory of the oldest inhabitant: it is also in use in cutlery establishments in U.S. (N. & Q., 7th S. VII. 197, 1889).
| 1888 in Addy Sheffield Gl. 1889 ― in N. & Q. 9 Mch. 199 This filing cutlers call ‘choiling’, and they do it by means of a rather smooth three-sided file..one could not call the choil of a table-knife an indentation..it is a rounding off. |