Meanings
nounknife (plural knives)
plural knives · alternative noun obsolete knyfe · alternative uncommon verb knive
- 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.
He was looking for a knife to chop some steak.
1 more example
Jeff was bent low over the backboard, working with the knife, a steady sawing motion, his shirt soaked through with sweat.
2007, Scott Smith, The Ruins, page 273 - Any blade-like part in a tool or a machine designed for cutting, such as that of a chipper.
verbknife (third-person singular simple present knifes, present participle knifing, simple past and past participle knifed)
present singular third person knifes · participle present knifing · participle past knifed · past knifed · alternative noun obsolete knyfe · alternative uncommon verb knive
- transitiveTo use a knife to injure or kill by stabbing, slashing, or otherwise using the sharp edge of the knife as a weapon.
She was repeatedly knifed in the chest.
3 more examples
One day his sergeant began to cane him, on which, seizing his knife, he knifed the sergeant : he knifed the privates : he knifed until he was finally overpowered, and, brought before a court-martial, was condemned to fifteen years at the galleys.
1843, The Foreign Quarterly Review, volume 31, Treuttel and Würtz, Treuttel, Jun, and Richter, page 236The plane has been hijacked. They've already knifed a guy.
2012, Robert Biswas-Diener, The Courage Quotient: How Science Can Make You Braver, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 92Naw, they found him in the pissery of some gin mill near the Mohawk West terminal—he'd been knifed.
2015, Ross H. Spencer, The Fedorovich File, Diversion Books, →ISBN, page 211
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo betray, especially in the context of a political slate.
Broader
Narrower
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More synonyms by meaning
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*gneybʰ-
- Proto-Germanic*knībaz
- Proto-West Germanic*knīb
- Old Norseknífr
- Old Englishcnīf
- Middle Englishknyf
- Englishknife
From Middle English knyf, knif, from late Old English cnīf, from Old Norse knífr or Proto-West Germanic *knīb, from Proto-Germanic *knībaz, from *knīpaną (“to pinch”), Proto-Indo-European *gneybʰ- (compare Lithuanian gnýbti, žnýbti (“to pinch”), gnaibis (“pinching”)). Displaced native Middle English sax (“knife”), from Old English seax; and Middle English coutel, qwetyll (“knife”) from Old French coutel. * The verb is first attested in 1865. The variant knive is first attested in 1733. Cognates Cognate with Yola kunnife (“knife”), North Frisian knif (“knife”), Dutch knijf (“long pointy knife, poniard”), German Knifte (“rifle; thick slicebread”), German Low German Knief (“knife”), Luxembourgish Knäip (“paring knife”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk kniv (“knife”), Faroese knívur (“knife”), Icelandic hnífur, knífur (“knife”), Swedish knif, kniv (“knife”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Old Norse
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans mes, mes
- mesutensil or tool designed for cutting
- mesweapon
- lemany blade-like part designed for cutting
Ancient Greek μάχαιρα, μάχαιρα
- μάχαιρα (mákhaira)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- μάχαιρα (mákhaira)weapon
Arabic سِكِّين, مُدْيَة
- سِكِّين (sikkīn)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- مُدْيَة (mudya)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- سكينة (sikkīna)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- سچين (siččīn)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- سكينة (sakkīna)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- موس (mūs)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- سكينة (sikkīne, sikkīna)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- خَنْجَر (ḵanjar)weapon
- خنجر (ḵángar)weapon
- نَصْل (naṣl)any blade-like part designed for cutting
- شَفْرَة (šafra)any blade-like part designed for cutting
- موس (mūs)any blade-like part designed for cutting
Basque labana, aizto
- labanautensil or tool designed for cutting
- aiztoutensil or tool designed for cutting
Bengali ছুরি, চাকু
- ছুরি (churi)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- চাকু (caku)utensil or tool designed for cutting
Bulgarian нож, кинжал
- нож (nož)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- кинжал (kinžal)weapon
- нож (nož)any blade-like part designed for cutting
- режа (reža)to use a knife to cut
- пробождам (proboždam)to cut through as if with a knife
Catalan ganivet, coltell
- ganivetutensil or tool designed for cutting
- coltellutensil or tool designed for cutting
- coltellweapon
- dagaweapon
- ganivetweapon
- punyalweapon
- ganivetany blade-like part designed for cutting
- tallarto use a knife to cut
- acoltellarto use a knife to injure or kill
- apunyalarto use a knife to injure or kill
Chinese до, 刀
- до (do)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- 刀 (to)utensil or tool designed for cutting
Chinese Cantonese 刀
- 刀 (dou¹)utensil or tool designed for cutting
Chinese Mandarin 刀, 刀子
- 刀 (dāo)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- 刀子 (dāozi)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- 刀 (dāo)weapon
Czech nůž, nůž
- nůžutensil or tool designed for cutting
- nůžweapon
- nůžany blade-like part designed for cutting
Danish kniv, kniv
- knivutensil or tool designed for cutting
- knivweapon
- knivany blade-like part designed for cutting
- skæreto use a knife to cut
- stikke med knivto use a knife to injure or kill
- skæreto cut through as if with a knife
Dari چَاقُو
- چَاقُو (čāqū)utensil or tool designed for cutting
Dutch mes, mes
- mesutensil or tool designed for cutting
- mesweapon
- mesany blade-like part designed for cutting
- lemmetany blade-like part designed for cutting
Esperanto tranĉilo
- tranĉiloutensil or tool designed for cutting
Estonian nuga, väits
- nugautensil or tool designed for cutting
- väitsutensil or tool designed for cutting
- pussweapon
- tääk (dagger)weapon
- teraany blade-like part designed for cutting
- lõikamato use a knife to cut
- pussitamato use a knife to injure or kill
- nuga andmato use a knife to injure or kill
- suskamato use a knife to injure or kill
- veristamato use a knife to injure or kill
Finnish veitsi, puukko
- veitsiutensil or tool designed for cutting
- puukkoutensil or tool designed for cutting
- puukkoweapon
- veitsiweapon
- tikari (dagger)weapon
- teräany blade-like part designed for cutting
- veitsiany blade-like part designed for cutting
- leikatato use a knife to cut
- puukottaato use a knife to injure or kill
- leikatato cut through as if with a knife
French couteau, couteau
- couteauutensil or tool designed for cutting
- couteauweapon
- couteauany blade-like part designed for cutting
- frapper d'un coup de couteauto use a knife to injure or kill
German Messer, Mässer
- Messerutensil or tool designed for cutting
- Mässerutensil or tool designed for cutting
- Messerweapon
- Messerany blade-like part designed for cutting
- messernto use a knife to injure or kill
Greek μαχαίρι, μαχαίρι
- μαχαίρι (machaíri)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- μαχαίρι (machaíri)weapon
- λεπίδα (lepída)any blade-like part designed for cutting
- μαχαιρώνω (machairóno)to use a knife to injure or kill
Hebrew סַכִּין, סַכִּין
- סַכִּין (sakín)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- סַכִּין (sakín)weapon
- סַכִּין (sakín)any blade-like part designed for cutting
Hindi छुरी, चाक़ू
- छुरी (churī)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- चाक़ू (cāqū)utensil or tool designed for cutting
Hungarian kés, kés
- késutensil or tool designed for cutting
- késweapon
- késany blade-like part designed for cutting
- késelto use a knife to injure or kill
Icelandic hnífur, hnífur
- hnífurutensil or tool designed for cutting
- hnífurweapon
- hnífurany blade-like part designed for cutting
Indonesian pisau, pisau
- pisauutensil or tool designed for cutting
- pisauweapon
Iranian Persian کارْد, چاقو
- کارْد (kârd)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- چاقو (čâġu)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- پِچَق (pečaġ)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- خَنْجَر (xanjar)weapon
- تیغ (tiġ)any blade-like part designed for cutting
Irish scian, scian
- scianutensil or tool designed for cutting
- scianweapon
Italian coltello, coltello
- coltelloutensil or tool designed for cutting
- coltelloweapon
- lamaany blade-like part designed for cutting
- accoltellareto use a knife to injure or kill
Japanese ナイフ, 小刀
- ナイフ (naifu)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- 小刀 (kogatana)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- ナイフ (naifu)weapon
- 短剣 (tanken)weapon
- 小刀 (shōtō)weapon
- 刀 (katana)weapon
Korean 칼, 나이프
- 칼 (kal)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- 나이프 (naipeu)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- 칼 (kal)weapon
Latin culter, culter
- culterutensil or tool designed for cutting
- culterweapon
Latvian nazis, nazis
- nazisutensil or tool designed for cutting
- nazisweapon
- nazisany blade-like part designed for cutting
Lithuanian peilis, peilis
- peilisutensil or tool designed for cutting
- peilisweapon
- peilisany blade-like part designed for cutting
Malay pisau
- pisauutensil or tool designed for cutting
Māori naihi
- naihiutensil or tool designed for cutting
Norwegian Bokmål kniv, kniv
- knivutensil or tool designed for cutting
- knivweapon
- knivbladany blade-like part designed for cutting
- skjæreto use a knife to cut
- hugge (med kniv)to use a knife to injure or kill
Polish nóż, nóż
- nóżutensil or tool designed for cutting
- nóżweapon
- nóżany blade-like part designed for cutting
Portuguese faca, faca
- facautensil or tool designed for cutting
- facaweapon
- facaany blade-like part designed for cutting
- cortar com faca (uma)to use a knife to cut
- esfaquearto use a knife to injure or kill
- cortarto cut through as if with a knife
Punjabi ਚਾਕੂ
- ਚਾਕੂ (cākū)utensil or tool designed for cutting
Romanian cuțit, a da o lovitură de cuțit
- cuțitutensil or tool designed for cutting
- a da o lovitură de cuțitto use a knife to injure or kill
Russian нож, но́жик
- нож (nož)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- но́жик (nóžik)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- нож (nož)weapon
- перо́ (peró)weapon
- фи́нка (fínka)weapon
- теса́к (tesák)weapon
- нож (nož)any blade-like part designed for cutting
- ле́звие (lézvije)any blade-like part designed for cutting
- ре́зать (rézatʹ)to use a knife to cut
- поре́зать (porézatʹ)to use a knife to cut
- прире́зать (prirézatʹ)to use a knife to injure or kill
- заре́зать (zarézatʹ)to use a knife to injure or kill
- заколо́ть (zakolótʹ)to use a knife to injure or kill
Scottish Gaelic sgian, sgian
- sgianutensil or tool designed for cutting
- sgianweapon
Slovak nôž
- nôžutensil or tool designed for cutting
Spanish cuchillo, cuchillo
- cuchilloutensil or tool designed for cutting
- cuchilloweapon
- puñalweapon
- serranilweapon
- cuchilloany blade-like part designed for cutting
- acuchillarto use a knife to injure or kill
Swahili kisu, kisu
- kisuutensil or tool designed for cutting
- kisuweapon
- kisuany blade-like part designed for cutting
Swedish kniv, dolk
- knivutensil or tool designed for cutting
- dolkweapon
- knivweapon
- skärato use a knife to cut
- knivhuggato use a knife to cut
- hugga (med kniv)to use a knife to injure or kill
- knivato use a knife to injure or kill
- skärato cut through as if with a knife
Tagalog kampit, kutsilyo
- kampitutensil or tool designed for cutting
- kutsilyoutensil or tool designed for cutting
Tamil கத்தி
- கத்தி (katti)utensil or tool designed for cutting
Thai มีด, พร้า
- มีด (mîit)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- พร้า (práa)utensil or tool designed for cutting
Turkish bıçak, bıçak
- bıçakutensil or tool designed for cutting
- bıçakany blade-like part designed for cutting
Ukrainian ніж, ніж
- ніж (niž)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- ніж (niž)weapon
- ле́зо (lézo)any blade-like part designed for cutting
Urdu چُھری, چاقُو
- چُھری (churī)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- چاقُو (cāqū)utensil or tool designed for cutting
- کارْد (kārd)utensil or tool designed for cutting
Vietnamese dao
- daoutensil or tool designed for cutting
Welsh cyllell
- cyllellutensil or tool designed for cutting
Yiddish מעסער
- מעסער (meser)utensil or tool designed for cutting
Zulu ummese
- ummeseutensil or tool designed for cutting
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with knife
lifewifefifestriferifetrifebag for lifeDutch wifeGod's lifegold star wifehigh on lifekifeoyster knifeshifeunder the knifewithin an inch of one's life
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
knife. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knife
MLA
“knife.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knife. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “knife,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knife.
Source: knife on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.