stick the knife in

verb

To say or do something deliberately and unnecessarily malicious.

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Meanings

verbstick the knife in (third-person singular simple present sticks the knife in, present participle sticking the knife in, simple past and past participle stuck the knife in)

present singular third person sticks the knife in · participle present sticking the knife in · participle past stuck the knife in · past stuck the knife in

  1. idiomaticTo say or do something deliberately and unnecessarily malicious.

    Bengali speaks with courtly floweriness even when sticking the knife in, and Thompson's well-meaning British bluntness was not appreciated.

    2001, Ezra Greenspan, Jonathan Rose, Book History, volume 4, page 307
Cite this entry
APA

stick the knife in. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stick%20the%20knife%20in

MLA

“stick the knife in.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stick%20the%20knife%20in. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stick the knife in,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stick%20the%20knife%20in.

Source: stick the knife in on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.