Meanings
- informalChiefly preceded by a form of go: undergoing a surgical procedure; into surgery.
"I don't want to go under the knife again. I had 10 surgeries as a player and many more since," [Lenny] Dykstra said, speaking as though he still had his trademark wad of tobacco in his mouth.
2006 August 19, Michael S. Schmidt, “After Shea, life diverges for two Mets”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Jan 20211 more example
Rumor that De Gaulle [i.e., Charles de Gaulle] was under the knife sped through Paris and the world the next morning. The staff at the Elysee Palace, De Gaulle's official residence, refused for hours either to confirm or deny the story; […] Finally, at 7:15 p.m., a bulletin signed by three doctors said that De Gaulle had been operated on that morning for "a disease of the prostate"— […]
1964 April 24, “France: Operation Royal”, in Roy Alexander, editor, Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Aug 2009
Origin
A reference to the situation of a patient lying on an operating table while a surgeon stands over them and operates using a surgical cutting tool (typically a scalpel).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 開刀 /开刀
- 開刀 /开刀 (kāidāo)undergoing a surgical procedure
Danish under kniven
- under knivenundergoing a surgical procedure
Dutch onder het mes
- onder het mesundergoing a surgical procedure
Finnish leikkaukseen
- leikkaukseenundergoing a surgical procedure
French passer sur le billard, sur le billard
- passer sur le billardundergoing a surgical procedure
- sur le billardundergoing a surgical procedure
German unters Messer, unter dem Messer
- unters Messerundergoing a surgical procedure
- unter dem Messerundergoing a surgical procedure
Irish faoi scian
- faoi scianundergoing a surgical procedure
Italian sotto i ferri
- sotto i ferriundergoing a surgical procedure
Norwegian under kniven
- under knivenundergoing a surgical procedure
Spanish bajo el cuchillo
- bajo el cuchilloundergoing a surgical procedure
Swedish under kniven
- under knivenundergoing a surgical procedure
Welsh dan y gyllell
- dan y gyllellundergoing a surgical procedure
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with under the knife
Cite this entry
under the knife. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/under%20the%20knife
“under the knife.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/under%20the%20knife. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “under the knife,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/under%20the%20knife.
Source: under the knife on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.