51Թ

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View synonyms for

knife

[nahyf]

noun

plural

knives 
  1. an instrument for cutting, consisting essentially of a thin, sharp-edged, metal blade fitted with a handle.

  2. a knifelike weapon; dagger or short sword.

  3. any blade for cutting, as in a tool or machine.



verb (used with object)

knifed, knifing 
  1. to apply a knife to; cut, stab, etc., with a knife.

  2. to attempt to defeat or undermine in a secret or underhanded way.

verb (used without object)

knifed, knifing 
  1. to move or cleave through something with or as if with a knife.

    The ship knifed through the heavy seas.

knife

/ Բɪ /

noun

  1. a cutting instrument consisting of a sharp-edged often pointed blade of metal fitted into a handle or onto a machine

  2. a similar instrument used as a weapon

  3. to have a grudge against or victimize someone

  4. to make a bad situation worse in a deliberately malicious way

  5. people are determined to harm or put a stop to someone

    the knives are out for Stevens

  6. undergoing a surgical operation

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to cut, stab, or kill with a knife

  2. to betray, injure, or depose in an underhand way

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other 51Թ Forms

  • knifelike adjective
  • knifer noun
  • ˈԾڱˌ adjective
  • ˈԾڱ noun
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of knife1

before 1100; Middle English knif, Old English ī; cognate with Dutch knijf, German Kneif, Old Norse īڰ
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of knife1

Old English ī; related to Old Norse īڰ, Middle Low German ī
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. under the knife, in surgery; undergoing a medical operation.

    The patient was under the knife for four hours.

see at gunpoint (knifepoint); under the knife; you could cut it with a knife.
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Surgical skills developed by doctors in war zones are now routinely being used to treat victims of gun and knife crime.

From

Austria has never seen a school attack on this scale, but the French stabbing took place during a government programme aimed at tackling the growth in knife crime.

From

Dighton injured several officers and admitted trying to murder a police officer with a knife and was sentenced at the Old Bailey in London.

From

But South Africa roared back into the contest in the second half of the day as Australia collapsed to 144-8 - a lead of 218 - to leave the match on a knife edge.

From

"I've never played a golf course as hard. Every shot is on a knife edge."

From

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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