# knife

Pronunciation: say "NYF" /naɪf/

## Noun

1. A tool or weapon consisting of a sharp blade, usually of steel, fixed in a handle, used for cutting or stabbing.
   - Simple: A tool with a sharp metal blade and a handle, used for cutting things or as a weapon.
   - _The chef sharpened his knife before slicing the salmon._
   - _Hikers often carry a folding knife for cutting rope and preparing food on the trail._
2. A blade-like part of a tool or machine designed for cutting, such as the cutting element of a wood chipper.
   - Simple: A sharp blade that is part of a machine or tool and does the cutting.
   - _The mower's knife had bent after striking a rock hidden in the grass._
   - _Technicians inspect the chipper knives weekly for cracks and dull edges._

## Verb

3. To injure or kill someone by stabbing or slashing them with a knife used as a weapon.
   - Simple: To hurt or kill someone by stabbing or cutting them with a knife.
   - _Witnesses said the attacker knifed two people before fleeing the scene._
   - _Prison gangs sometimes knife informers to keep other inmates silent._
4. To cut something with a knife.
   - Simple: To cut something using a knife.
   - _The sailor knifed the tangled net free of the propeller._
   - _Rather than hunt for scissors, she would knife open each package on the kitchen counter._
5. To cut through something as if with a knife; to move cleanly and swiftly through a medium.
   - Simple: To move through something quickly and smoothly, the way a knife cuts.
   - _A bitter wind knifed through the crowd gathered at the harbor._
   - _Her skis knife through the fresh powder on the steepest descents._
6. To betray someone, especially a fellow candidate or ally on one's own political slate.
   - Simple: To secretly turn against and harm someone who trusted you.
   - _Party insiders knifed the reform candidate, quietly urging voters to skip her name on the ballot._
   - _Politicians who knife their running mates rarely escape suspicion in the next election._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To pointedly ignore someone, especially as a deliberate snub intended to belittle them.

## Origin

Knife comes from Middle English knyf, from late Old English cnīf, probably borrowed from or reinforced by Old Norse knífr. This traces back to Proto-Germanic *knībaz, perhaps connected with *knīpaną meaning 'to pinch' and ultimately with Proto-Indo-European *gneybʰ-. The verb knife is recorded by 1843.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/knife (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).