Definitions for knife
naɪf; naɪvzknife

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:2.6 / 5 votes

1. knifenoun

   edge tool used as a cutting instrument; has a pointed blade with a sharp edge and a handle

2. knifenoun

   a weapon with a handle and blade with a sharp point

3. tongue, knifeverb

   any long thin projection that is transient

   "tongues of flame licked at the walls"; "rifles exploded quick knives of fire into the dark"

4. knife, stabverb

   use a knife on

   "The victim was knifed to death"

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. knifenoun

   A utensil or a tool designed for cutting, consisting of a flat piece of hard material, usually steel or other metal (the blade), usually sharpened on one edge, attached to a handle. The blade may be pointed for piercing.

2. knifenoun

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

3. knifenoun

   Any blade-like part in a tool or a machine designed for cutting, such as the knives for a chipper.

4. knifeverb

   To cut with a knife.

5. knifeverb

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

6. knifeverb

   To cut through as if with a knife.

7. knifeverb

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

8. knifeverb

   To positively ignore, especially in order to denigrate. compare cut

9. Etymology: knif, from late cnif, from Old Norse knífr (compare Danish/Swedish kniv), from knībaz (compare Low German Knief, Knäip ‘penknife’), from ‘to pinch’ (compare Dutch knijpen, Low German kniepen, Old High German gniffen), from gneibʰ- (compare Lithuanian gnýbti, žnýbti ‘to pinch’, gnaibis ‘pinching’). Replaced Middle English sexe.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Knifenoun

   plur. knives. An instrument edged and pointed, wherewith meat is cut, and animals killed.

   Etymology: cnif , Sax. kniff , Danish.

   Come, thick night,
   And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
   That my keen knife see not the wound it makes. William Shakespeare.

   Blest powers, forbid thy tender life
   Should bleed upon a barbarous knife. Richard Crashaw.

   The sacred priests with ready knives bereave
   The beast of life, and in full bowls receive
   The streaming blood. John Dryden, Æn.

   Ev’n in his sleep he starts, and fears the knife,
   And, trembling, in his arms takes his accomplice wife. Dryd.

   Pain is not in the knife that cuts us; but we call it cutting in the knife, and pain only in ourselves. Isaac Watts.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Knife

   A knife (PL: knives; from Old Norse knifr 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools. Originally made of wood, bone, and stone (such as flint and obsidian), over the centuries, in step with improvements in both metallurgy and manufacturing, knife blades have been made from copper, bronze, iron, steel, ceramic, and titanium. Most modern knives have either fixed or folding blades; blade patterns and styles vary by maker and country of origin. Knives can serve various purposes. Hunters use a hunting knife, soldiers use the combat knife, scouts, campers, and hikers carry a pocket knife; there are kitchen knives for preparing foods (the chef's knife, the paring knife, bread knife, cleaver), table knives (butter knives and steak knives), weapons (daggers or switchblades), knives for throwing or juggling, and knives for religious ceremony or display (the kirpan).

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. knife

   A knife is a culinary or utility tool with a sharpened metal blade attached to a handle, used for cutting, chopping, slicing or as a weapon. It's one of the oldest tools used by mankind with various types from pocket knives to butcher knives.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Knifenoun

   an instrument consisting of a thin blade, usually of steel and having a sharp edge for cutting, fastened to a handle, but of many different forms and names for different uses; as, table knife, drawing knife, putty knife, pallet knife, pocketknife, penknife, chopping knife, etc.

2. Knifenoun

   a sword or dagger

3. Knifeverb

   to prune with the knife

4. Knifeverb

   to cut or stab with a knife

5. Etymology: [OE. knif, AS. cnf; akin to D. knijf, Icel. knfr, Sw. knif, Dan. kniv.]

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Knife

   A knife is a cutting tool with a cutting edge or blade, hand-held or otherwise, with or without a handle. Knife-like tools were used at least two-and-a-half million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools. Originally made of rock, bone, flint, and obsidian, knives have evolved in construction as technology has, with blades being made from bronze, copper, iron, steel, ceramics, and titanium. Many cultures have their unique version of the knife. Due to its role as humankind's first tool, certain cultures have attached spiritual and religious significance to the knife. Most modern-day knives follow either a fixed-blade or a folding construction style, with blade patterns and styles as varied as their makers and countries of origin.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Knife

   nīf, n. an instrument for cutting: a sword or dagger:—pl. Knives (nīvz).—v.t. to stab with a knife: (Amer.) to try to destroy a political candidate's chances by a treacherous attack.—ns. Knife′-and-fork′, a trencherman; Knife′-board, a board on which knives are cleaned: (coll.) the seat running along the top of an omnibus; Knife′-boy, a boy employed in cleaning knives; Knife′-edge (mech.), a sharp piece of steel like a knife's edge serving as the axis of a balance, &c.; Knife′-grind′er, one who grinds or sharpens knives; Knife′-mon′ey, a knife-shaped bronze currency formerly used in China; Knife′-rest, a glass or metal utensil on which to rest a carving-knife or fork; Knife′-tray, a tray for holding knives.—War to the knife, mortal combat. [A.S. cníf: Ger. kneif, knife, kneifen, to nip.]

Dictionary of Nautical TermsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. knife

   An old name for a dagger: thus Lady Macbeth-- "That my keen knife see not the wound it makes."

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. knife

   Song lyrics by knife -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by knife on the Lyrics.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. KNIFE

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Knife is ranked #78567 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Knife surname appeared 243 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Knife.
   
   68.7% or 167 total occurrences were White.
   25.1% or 61 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
   3.7% or 9 total occurrences were Black.

Matched Categories

1. • Edge Tool
   • Injure
   • Weapon

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'knife' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3678

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'knife' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3130

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'knife' in Nouns Frequency: #1294

How to pronounce knife?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say knife in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of knife in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of knife in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of knife in a Sentence

1. Police John Drake:

   He deescalated by retreating, he moved backwards, again ordering the individual to drop the weapon… You can’t use a less lethal if someone is attacking you with a knife.

2. Paul OShaughnessy:

   He had a knife, it was covered in blood. He kept saying something in Arabic, he was clearly under the influence of something, my brother Luke managed to keep him pinned down until the police arrived. My brother put a crate and a chair to keep him pinned down. He didnt show any remorse at all.

3. Jose Alba:

   Austin Simon wanted me to come apologize to the girl. I took the knife we use to open boxes and I stabbed Austin Simon.

4. Adrian Kaczmarekshows:

   I was more concerned about my safety and the people on the train safety. I wasn’t sure if he had a knife or if he had a gun.

5. Robert Long:

   I pull over, they get in, I drive a little ways, stop, pull a knife, a gun, whatever, tie them up, take them out. And that would be it.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=knife
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Knife
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=knife
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knife
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/knife
7. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=knife
8. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=knife
9. ^ Dictionary of Nautical Terms
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/26000/pg26000-images.html#:~:text=knife
10. ^ Surnames Frequency by Census Records
    https://www.census.gov/topics/population/genealogy/data/2010_surnames.html