Knifing

[nahyf] /naɪf/

noun, plural knives
[nahyvz] /naɪvz/ (Show IPA)
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.
4.
to apply a knife to; cut, stab, etc., with a knife.
5.
to attempt to defeat or undermine in a secret or underhanded way.
verb (used without object), knifed, knifing.
6.
to move or cleave through something with or as if with a knife:
The ship knifed through the heavy seas.
Idioms
7.
under the knife, in surgery; undergoing a medical operation:
The patient was under the knife for four hours.
/naɪf/
noun (pl) knives (naɪvz)
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.
have one’s knife in someone, to have a grudge against or victimize someone
4.
twist the knife, to make a bad situation worse in a deliberately malicious way
5.
(Brit) the knives are out for someone, people are determined to harm or put a stop to someone: the knives are out for Stevens
6.
under the knife, undergoing a surgical operation
verb (transitive)
7.
to cut, stab, or kill with a knife
8.
to betray, injure, or depose in an underhand way
n.

late Old English cnif, probably from Old Norse knifr, from Proto-Germanic *knibaz (cf. Middle Low German knif, Middle Dutch cnijf, German kneif), of uncertain origin. To further confuse the etymology, there also are forms in -p-, e.g. Dutch knijp, German kneip. French canif “penknife” (mid-15c.) is borrowed from Middle English or Norse.
v.

1865, from knife (n.). Related: Knifed; knifing.

(1.) Heb. hereb, “the waster,” a sharp instrument for circumcision (Josh. 5:2, 3, lit. “knives of flint;” comp. Ex. 4:25); a razor (Ezek. 5:1); a graving tool (Ex. 20:25); an axe (Ezek. 26:9). (2.) Heb. maakeleth, a large knife for slaughtering and cutting up food (Gen. 22:6, 10; Prov. 30:14). (3.) Heb. sakkin, a knife for any purpose, a table knife (Prov. 23:2). (4.) Heb. mahalaph, a butcher’s knife for slaughtering the victims offered in sacrifice (Ezra 1:9). (5.) Smaller knives (Heb. ta’ar, Jer. 36:26) were used for sharpening pens. The pruning-knives mentioned in Isa. 18:5 (Heb. mizmaroth) were probably curved knives.

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