▪ I. knife, n.
(naɪf)
Pl. knives (naɪvz). Forms: 1–3 cnif, 3–7 knif, (3 cnife, cniue, kniue), 3–4 knijf, 3–5 knyue, 4–5 knyf, knyff(e, 4–6 knyfe, 4– knife. pl. 3 cniues, -fes, -fen, 3–6 kniues, (5 knyfes, -ys, 6–7 knifs), 7– knives.
[Late OE. cn{iacu}f (11th c.) = Fris. knif, MDu. cnijf (Du. knijf), MLG. knîf (LG. knîf, knief, knif), Ger. kneif (prob. from LG.), ON. kn{iacu}f-r (Sw. knif, Da. kniv):—OTeut. *knīƀo-z, of uncertain etym. Forms with p are also found in Du. knijp, LG. knîp, kniep, G. kneip (also kneupe, gneip, gnippe): as to the relation between these and the forms with f, cf. knape and knave. F. canif (1441 in Godef. Compl.) is from Teut.]
1. a. A cutting instrument, consisting of a blade with a sharpened longitudinal edge fixed in a handle, either rigidly as in a table-knife, carving knife, or sheath-knife, or with a joint as in a pocket-knife or clasp-knife. The blade is generally of steel, but sometimes of other material, as in the silver fish- and fruit-knives, the (blunt-edged) paperknife of ivory, wood, etc., and the flint knives of early man.
| a 1100 Ags. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 329/17 Artauus, cnif. c 1200 Ormin 4128 Þatt cnif wass..Off stan, and nohht of irenn. c 1305 Pilate 234 in E.E.P. (1862) 117 Len me a knyf þis appel to parie. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 369 Hir knyues [v.r. knyfes] were chaped noght with bras But al with siluer wroght ful clene and wel. c 1460 Stans Puer 58 in Babees Bk. 30 Brynge no knyves vnskoured to the table. 1552 Huloet, Knife to cut vynes, or graffynge knyfe. 1573–80 Baret Alv. K 100 A Shoemakers paring knife. 1663 Pepys Diary 23 Oct., Bought a large kitchen knife, and half a dozen oyster knives. 1708 W. King Cookery iii, Silver and gold knives brought in with the dessert for carving of jellies. 1796 C. Marshall Garden. xii. (1813) 142 A slip of the knife may wound a neighbouring branch. 1846 F. Brittan tr. Malgaigne's Man. Oper. Surg. 214 Lisfranc uses a double-edged knife, and passes it round the limb so as to carry it with its point downwards on the anterior surface of the tibia. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., Double-knife, a knife having a pair of blades which may be set at any regulated distance from each other, so as to obtain thin sections of soft bodies. One form of this is known as Valentin's knife, from the inventor. |
b. A knife used as a weapon of offence or defence; a knife-like weapon; applied to a short sword, cutlass, or hanger.
war to the knife: war to the last extremity, fierce or relentless war (
lit. and
fig.).
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 69 We ne maȝen be fond from us driue Ne mid sworde ne mid kniue. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2286 He drou is knif, & slou þe king. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 165 Hadde þei had knyues, bi cryst, her eyther had killed other. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 864 Ilk ane a schort knyfe braidit out sone. c 1507 Dunbar 7 Deadly Sins 32 Than Yre come in with sturt and stryfe; His hand wes ay vpoun his knyfe. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. iii. 36 The worthie meed Of him that slew Sansfoy with bloody knife. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. i. 63 Thou lai'st in euery gash that loue hath giuen me, The Knife that made it. 1704 F. Fuller Med. Gymn. (1711) 255 If I had been Stab'd, or had had my Flesh cut with Knives. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. lxxxvi, War, war is still the cry, ‘War even to the knife!’ 1876 Gladstone Relig. Thought i. in Contemp. Rev. June 7 ‘Catholicism’ has..declared war to the knife against modern culture. 1894 Mrs. H. Ward Marcella II. 5 If Westall bullies him any more he will put a knife into him. |
† c. pair of knives, a set of two knives,
esp. as carried in one sheath.
Obs. Davies and others following him have explained the term as
= ‘a pair of scissors’, but this is apparently erroneous.
| [1302–3 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 504 In uno pare de Cultell. empt. pro Priore, 5s.] 1575 Laneham Let. (1871) 38 A payr of capped Sheffield kniuez hanging a to side. 1594 Barnfield Aff. Sheph. ii. xvii, A paire of Kniues,..New Gloues to put vpon thy milk-white hand Ile giue thee. 1610 F. Cocks Diary 1 Oct. (1901) Paide for a paire of knyves for my va[lentine]: 2s., a string for them 10d. c 1645 Howell Lett I. i. xiv, Half a dozen pair of Knifs. a 1658 Ford, etc. Witch of Edmonton ii. ii, But see, the bridegroom and bride come, the new pair of Sheffield knives, fitted both to one sheath. 1893 N. & Q. 8th Ser. IV. 17/2 At a meeting of the British Archæological Association, in 1860, was exhibited a pair of wedding knives in their embossed sheath of courbouilli. |
d. A sharpened cutting-blade forming part of a machine, as of a straw-cutter, turnip-cutter, rag-engine, etc.
| 1833 J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 261 These knives are placed obliquely to the axle..so as to operate with a sort of draw cut upon the matter presented at the end of the box. 1853 Catal. R. Agric. Soc. Show Gloucester 31 The knives are as easily sharpened and set as in an ordinary chaff cutter. 1873 J. Richards Wood-working Factories 105 It would be impossible to change the cylinders when a machine has a variety of work to do, but by having some extra knives ground at different bevels it becomes an easy matter to change them. |
e. Phr.
before (one) can say knife: very quickly or suddenly. Also
while (one) would say knife.
colloq.| 1874 M. Clarke His Natural Life II. iii. viii. 170 He was over the wall before you could say ‘knife’. 1880 Mrs. Parr Adam & Eve xxxii. 443 'Fore I could say knife he was out and clane off. 1893 R. Kipling Many Invent. 334 We'll pull you off before you can say knife. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 158 Toss off a glass of brandy neat while you'd say knife. 1954 A. Macrae Both Ends Meet in Plays of Year X. 509 With a couple like that you'll be in a lawsuit before you can say ‘knife’. 1973 M. Muggeridge Infernal Grove i. 71 Like alcoholics after taking the cure—never another drop; well, just a taste perhaps, and then, before you could say knife, back on the meths. |
f. the knife: used as typical of surgical operations. Also
attrib.| 1880 Tennyson Ballads 88 But they said too of him He was happier using the knife than in trying to save the limb. Ibid. 95 My sleep was broken besides with dreams of the dreadful knife. 1932 Kipling Limits & Renewals 350 And leave you knife-wallahs to kill our patients? 1961 [see knife-man]. |
g. to get or have one's knife into (a person): to exhibit a malicious or vindictive spirit towards; to persecute unrelentingly.
| 1890 D. C. Murray John Vale's Guardian III. xxxvi. 173, I reckon you've got your knife into Mr. Jousserau. 1911 H. S. Walpole Mr. Perrin & Mr. Traill vi. 116 This was to be the beginning of persecution. The Reverend Moy-Thompson had got his knife into him. 1930 J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement ix. 440 You got your knife into him the first time he came here, and after that of course he had to be blamed for everything. 1963 N. Marsh Dead Water (1964) i. 26, I don't know what's got into you. Why've you got your knife into this reporter chap? |
h. night of the long knives: see
long knife 2.
i. you (or one) could cut (something) with a knife:
colloq. phr. used to describe an atmosphere (
lit. or
fig.) so thick that it seems capable of being cut with a knife.
| 1892 A. W. Pinero Magistrate i. 18 There's a fog on the line—you could cut it with a knife. 1954 M. Sharp Gipsy in Parlour (1955) xiii. 111 The smell was chiefly cabbage..and one could have cut it with a knife. 1973 G. Moffat Deviant Death v. 68 You could have cut the atmosphere with a knife. |
2. Comb. a. attrib., as
knife-age (see
age n. 11),
knife-back (also
attrib.),
knife-basket,
knife-blade,
knife-box,
knife-case,
knife-cut,
knife-feat,
knife-girdle,
knife-haft,
knife-shaft,
knife-stab,
knife-stroke,
knife-thrust (also
fig.),
knife-tray,
knife-trick, etc.; objective,
obj. gen., and instrumental, as
knife-cleaning,
knife-eater,
knife-fancier,
knife-hafter,
knife-juggling,
knife-maker,
knife-sticking,
knife-swallower,
knife-throwing; similative, etc., as
knife-backed,
knife-featured,
knife-happy,
knife-jawed,
knife-like,
knife-sharp,
knife-shaped,
knife-skewed,
knife-stripped adjs.| 1889 R. B. Anderson tr. Rydberg's Teut. Mythol. 94 The third patriarch begins the ‘*knife-age and the axe-age with cloven shields’. |
| 1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & W. vi, A cook..and *knife-and-shoe-boy. |
| 1737 Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 124 Shoulders..no thicker than a *knife back. 1886 Harper's Mag. June 119/2 Between these knife-back ledges are plots of sea-green grass. 1966 Listener 2 June 789/1 Miniature trains of rubber-tyred, electrically-driven cars (with knife-back seats or flat decks for standing passengers) would run on set routes. |
| 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing Dict., *Knife backt Sculptor, is a Sculptor with a thin edge on its back. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Knife-basket, a tray for holding table-knives. |
| 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair vii, An old-fashioned crabbed *knife-box on a dumb waiter. |
| 1790 Pennsylvania Packet 6 Jan. 1/4 Steel and gilt hat buckles, and A few inlaid mahogany *knife cases. c 1807 Jane Austen Watsons (1954) 344 Nanny..was beginning to bustle into the parlour with the Tray & the Knife-case. 1971 Canad. Antiques Collector May 3 (Advt.), Rare and elegant pair of circular inlaid mahogany Knife Cases of the highest quality. English. Circa 1800. |
| 1869 Daily News 11 Dec., *Knife-cleaning machine maker. |
| 1883 Stevenson Treas. Isl. iv. xvi, With a *knife-cut on the side of the cheek. |
| 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 117 The medical journals..are numerous in their descriptions of London *knife-eaters. |
| 1895 Century Mag. Aug. 638/2 A tall, lanky, sharp-boned, *knife-featured fellow. |
| 1865 J. H. Ingraham Pillar of Fire (1872) 190 *Knife-girdle of lion's hide. |
| 1720 Strype Stow's Surv. (1754) II. v. xii. 298/1 The skill of making fine Knives and *Knive-hafts. |
| 1864 Leeds Merc. 24 Oct., Richard Rhodes, *knife hafter. |
| 1961 Amer. Speech XXXVI. 147 *Knife happy, overeager to resort to operation, said of a surgeon. 1964 New Statesman 21 Feb. 306/3 Sacha Pitoeff scowls away as a canapé-ferrying, knife-happy villain. |
| 1896 Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. V. 349 The *Knife-Jawed Fishes... A small genus..(Hoplognathus)..characterised by the jawbones having a sharp cutting edge. |
| 1874 L. Carr Jud. Gwynne I. vii. 202 Some terrible feats of *knife-juggling. |
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxiv. 315 Her great fault was her *knife-like bow. 1860 Illustr. Lond. News 14 Apr. 362/3 [The simoom's] passage leaves a narrow ‘knifelike’ track. |
| 1632 Sherwood, A *knife maker. 1704 Lond. Gaz. No. 4082/4 William Dickenson,..Scizer or Knife-maker. |
| a 1763 Shenstone On Taste Wks. 1764 II. 320 A *knife-shaft made from the royal oak. |
| 1835–6 Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 312 Compressed *knife-shaped bill. |
| 1955 E. Pound Classic Anthol. i. 73 Down from the spring the *knife-sharp waters run. 1973 J. Wainwright Devil you Don't 145 The wind came in, knife-sharp, from the North Sea. 1974 H. R. F. Keating Bats fly Up ix. 95 Ghote felt a knife-sharp happiness. |
| a 1918 W. Owen Coll. Poems (1963) 41 Your slender attitude Trembles not exquisite like limbs *knife-skewed. |
| 1851 Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. xxvii. 204 Dogs..growling over the *knife-stripped bones. |
| 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 117 Cummings, the *knife-swallower. |
| 1923 G. Collins Valley of Eyes Unseen i. 28 If there's shooting or *knife-throwing. |
| 1894 Daily Tel. 27 June 6/7 That successful *knife-thrust. 1959 Times 24 June 13/1 The *knife-thrusts of Ibsen's dialogue. 1967 Coast to Coast 1965–6 228 The first knife-thrusts of hunger had developed into a permanent ache of emptiness. |
| 1851 C. Cist Cincinnati xiii. 215 Among the principal articles are..*knife trays. 1939–40 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 168/1 Knife-trays. Japanned and filleted. |
b. Special
Combs.:
knife-bar, a bar bearing the knives in a cutting machine;
knife-bayonet, a combined knife and bayonet, carried when not in use in a sheath, a small sword-bayonet;
knife-blade, (
a) the blade of a knife; (
b) something sharp or pointed; (
c) in
Mountaineering, a kind of piton (see
quot. 1968); also
attrib. and
Comb.;
knife-boy, a boy employed to clean table-knives;
knife-cleaner, a machine for cleaning and polishing knives;
knife-dagger, an ancient form of one-edged dagger, having a long and heavy blade;
knife-file, a thin and tapering file, with a very sharp edge;
knife-fish, a species of carp (
Cyprinus cultratus);
knife-grass, a stout American sedge (
Scleria latifolia) with sharp-edged leaves;
knife-guard, a small metal piece or arm hinged to the back of a carving-fork to protect the hand against the slipping of the knife;
knife-head, ‘that piece in the cutting apparatus of a harvester to which the knife is fastened, and to which the pitman-head is connected’ (Knight
Dict. Mech. Suppl. 1884);
† knife-hook, a sickle;
knife-lanyard, a lanyard to which a sailor's knife is fastened;
knife-money, an ancient Chinese currency consisting of bronze shaped like a knife;
knife-pleat, a narrow sharply creased pleat (in a garment,
esp. a skirt); so
knife-pleated a. (see also pleated
ppl. a.),
knife-pleating vbl. n.;
knife-polisher = knife-cleaner;
knife-rest, (
a) a small pillow of metal or glass on which to rest a carving-knife or -fork at table; also, a support to keep a knife in position while it is being ground; (
b)
Mil. slang, a barrier or obstruction composed of barbed wire and timber;
knife-scales, the sides of the haft of a knife;
knife-sharpener, an instrument, usually of steel, for sharpening knives;
knife-smith, a maker of knives, a cutler;
† knife-stone, a hone;
knife switch Electr. Engin., a switch consisting of a conducting blade or set of blades hinged at one end so that it may be swung out of or into a fixed contact or set of contacts at the other end;
knife-thrower, one who throws knives (
spec. as a form of entertainment); also
U.S. slang (see
quot. 1905);
knife-tool, (
a) a knife-shaped graver, (
b) a minute disk used to cut fine lines in seal-engraving;
† knife-warper, a knife-thrower, a juggler;
knife-work, the use of knives as weapons or instruments; also
fig.;
knife-worm, a caterpillar that cuts leaves. See also
knife-board, -edge, -grinder, -handle, etc.
| 1867 Trans. Illinois Agric. Soc. VII. 312 By the arrangement of its parts the *knife-bar is placed further forward than in most machines. 1881 Spon's Encycl. Indust. Arts 1603 Knife-bar, with diagonal slots, to give the lateral movement as it descends. |
| 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 231 To etch 100 or more *knife-blades at once. 1902 Daily Chron. 12 Sept. 3/2 The snowy knife-blade arète. 1911 J. A. Thomson Biol. Seasons i. 44 The knife-blade-like larvæ of the eel. 1950 J. Dempsey Championship Fighting x. 49 All fingers, including the thumb, pressing tightly against each other to form a ‘knife blade’. 1955 E. Pound Classic Anthol. ii. 106 A shallow basin gives the fish no shade, Dive as they will, there's flash of fin's knife-blade. 1968 P. Crew Encycl. Dict. Mountaineering 75/2 Knife-blade, a long thin piton. The name is mainly applied to chrome-molly pitons of this type. 1971 D. Haston in C. Bonnington Annapurna South Face xvii. 206 It was a long and tortuous pitch done in one run-out on one of our big ropes. Firstly knee-deep mushy snow, then hard ice to exit, with one miserable knife-blade for protection. |
| 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair vi, The *knife-boy was caught stealing a cold shoulder of mutton. |
| 1869 L. M. Alcott Little Women II. i. 12 A *knife-cleaner that spoilt all the knives. 1891 Month LXXII. 19 The apple-parer and knife-cleaner are American. |
| 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing Dict., *Knife-file, a file with a thin edge. |
| 1799 W. Tooke View Russian Emp. III. 176 The *knife-fish. |
| a 1599 Spenser F.Q. vii. vii. 38 In his one hand, as fit for harvests toyle, He held a *knife-hook. |
| 1901 Chambers's Jrnl. Apr. 255/2 Between 1122 and 224 b.c. a very curious *knife-money was used in the state of Tsi. This coin was of copper, shaped like a bill-hook, and about seven inches long, with the handle terminating in a ring, doubtless for the purpose of stringing the coins together. |
| 1891 Cassell's Family Mag. Nov. 753/2 ‘*Knife-pleats’—as the Americans call them, to distinguish the single from the box-pleat—are turned towards the centre of the back [of the mantle]. 1928 Daily Mail 31 July 1/2 Well made with smart knife pleats at sides. 1964 McCall's Sewing ii. 30/1 Knife pleats, series of pleats that turn in the same direction, are usually equal in width and are pressed straight to the hem. |
| 1905 *Knife-pleated [see pleated ppl. a.]. 1937 Times 27 Sept. 19/2 A knife-pleated vermilion dinner gown. 1965 Punch 12 May p. xvii, Knife-pleated travel skirts. |
| 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 37/1 Fast Black Sateen Waists... 2 rows *knife pleating from shoulder to belt. 1937 Times 27 Sept. 19/2 Knife pleating was used in several graceful gowns. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Knife-rest. 1919 Athenæum 15 Aug. 759/1 Knife-rests, chevaux de frise. 1921 F. W. Bewsher Hist. 51st Div. vii. 114 Stooks of cut strands of wire and over-turned knife-rests lay everywhere. 1958 P. Kemp No Colours or Crest iv. 54 The entrance to the courtyard was blocked by a heavy ‘knife-rest’ barbed wire entanglement. 1964 A. Farrar-Hockley Somme ii. 83 Gaps had been filled with wired knife-rests and concertina rolls pegged down with iron pickets. |
| 1884 Yorksh. Post 9 Jan., ‘*Knife-scales’ are those parts of a knife that form the sides of the handle..of horn, bone, ivory, or tortoiseshell. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Knife-sharpener. |
| 1738 Wesley Wks. (1872) I. 131 Augustine Neusser, a *knife-smith. 1886 J. Pendleton Hist. Derbysh. 195 The knifesmith's homely forge. |
| 1571 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1835) 352, ij dosen *knyff stones and iiij dosen rebstones. |
| 1907 H. H. Norris Introd. Study Electr. Engin. ix. 225 Open *knife switches as described are not commonly used for circuit-breaking purposes above 500 volts and a few hundred amperes. 1962 Newnes Conc. Encycl. Electr. Engin. 726/2 Air-break isolators are made in a large variety of forms and range from the simple knife switch to those suitable for the highest transmission voltages. |
| 1905 Smart Set Oct. 3/1 ‘They got a new *knife-thrower up to the hotel,’ he announced... (A ‘knife-thrower’, be it known, is parlance for waitress.) 1953 Wodehouse Performing Flea 190 He would shoot all round you till you felt like a knife-thrower's assistant, but you were really quite safe. 1973 Listener 19 July 80/1 Electrons are fired at an object, and they trace its outline like a knife-thrower at a fair. |
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 212 He is his *knif-worpare, & pleieð mid sweordes. |
| 1845 W. G. Simms Wigwam & Cabin 2nd Ser. 143 But none of your *knife-work, le'me tell you. 1931 D. L. Sayers Five Red Herrings xxii. 255 Copying a canvas isn't the same thing as painting direct... It's the technique that's a nuisance... I don't feel handy with so much knife-work. 1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Two Towers 141 It has been knife-work up there. 1955 J. Morrison in Austral. Short Stories (1963) 2nd Ser. 147 Collins the overseer did all the knife-work—castrating, ear-marking, and tailing. 1965 J. Lawlor in J. Gibb Light on C. S. Lewis 76 Then proceed to the knife-work of murdering to dissect, in order to sweep the vile body aside to make room for the certified masterpieces. |
| 1860 Emerson Cond. Life, Fate Wks. (Bohn) II. 327 Such an one has curculios, borers, *knife-worms. |
▪ II. knife, v. (
naɪf)
[f. knife n. (See also knive.)] 1. a. trans. To use a knife to; to cut, strike, or stab with a knife.
| 18.. Greatheart III. 174, I should get you pistoled or ‘knifed’ as sure as eggs are eggs for this insolence. 1865 Daily Tel. 18 Apr. 3 Pirate..who was only ‘knifed’ just prior to winning at Doncaster, secured the judge's fiat easily at the finish. 1883 ‘Annie Thomas’ Mod. Housewife 72, I knew better than to knife my oyster. 1890 Doyle Sign of Four xi. (ed. 3) 209, I would have thought no more of knifing him than of smoking this cigar. |
b. To lift (food) to the mouth with a knife.
| 1897 Outing (U.S.) XXX. 460/1 These knowledge-seekers..knife their food, feeding both brain and stomach simultaneously. What they lost in manners, they gained in time. |
c. U.S. slang. To strike at secretly; to endeavour to defeat in an underhand way.
| 1888 Nation (N.Y.) 5 July 3/1 He speaks favourably of them in a leading article, and ‘knifes’ them slyly in paragraphs. 1892 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 5 Nov. 12/7 The idea is to knife Moise for Congress. 1895 Times 19 Dec. 8 The liberal knifing of Senators Lodge and Chandler will confirm wavering Irish voters to support the ‘Grand Old Party’. |
2. Techn. a. To spread or lay
on (paint) with a knife.
b. Boot-making. To trim (soles and heels) with a knife.
| 1887 Ch. Times 24 June 516/3 The pigments..are knifed on to the canvas. 1888 Times (weekly ed.) 18 May 17/3 For boots..1s. a dozen [was paid to the finisher] for knifing. |
3. intr. To move as with the action of a knife cutting or passing through.
| 1920 W. Camp Football without a Coach 107 If any of these three center men lunges through—‘knifes’ through, as it is called—he opens the door on either side of him. 1950 J. Dempsey Championship Fighting xx. 120 Deflection of the blow by..knifing with the forearm. 1958 Times 25 Sept. 3/2 The principal advantage of the American yacht seemed to be her ability to sail closer to the wind and knife more smoothly through the water than Sceptre. 1965 Harper's Bazaar June 68/2 If you come across a Salon 1959..knife on to it. 1971 Flying (N.Y.) Apr. 30/3 Skirting the coast for awhile before knifing northwest to Bordeaux. |