Knife Definition

nīf
knifed, knifes, knifing, knives
noun
knives
A cutting or stabbing instrument with a sharp blade, single-edged or double-edged, set in a handle.
Webster's New World
A cutting blade, as in a machine.
Webster's New World

A weapon designed with the aforementioned specifications intended for slashing and/or stabbing and too short to be called a sword. A dagger.

Wiktionary
verb
knifed, knifes, knifing
To cut or stab with a knife.
Webster's New World
To use underhanded methods in order to hurt, defeat, or betray.
Webster's New World
To pass into or through something quickly, like a sharp knife.
Webster's New World

To use a knife to injure or kill by stabbing, slashing, or otherwise using the sharp edge of the knife as a weapon.

Wiktionary

To betray, especially in the context of a political slate.

Wiktionary
Synonyms:
idiom
under the knife
  • Undergoing surgery.
American Heritage
under the knife
  • undergoing surgery
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Knife

Noun

Singular:
knife
Plural:
knives

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Knife

Origin of Knife

  • Middle English knif, from late Old English cnīf, from Old Norse knífr (compare Danish/Swedish/Norwegian kniv), from Proto-Germanic *knībaz (compare Low German Knief, Luxembourgish Knäip ‘penknife’), from *knīpaną ‘to pinch’ (compare Dutch knijpen, Low German kniepen, Old High German gniffen), from Proto-Indo-European *gneibʰ- (compare Lithuanian gnýbti, žnýbti ‘to pinch’, gnaibis ‘pinching’). Replaced Middle English sax.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English knif from Old English cnīf from Old Norse knīfr

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to knife using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

knife