From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
knife
n 1: edge tool used as a cutting instrument; has a pointed blade
with a sharp edge and a handle
2: a weapon with a handle and blade with a sharp point
3: any long thin projection that is transient; "tongues of
flame licked at the walls"; "rifles exploded quick knives
of fire into the dark" [syn: tongue]
v : use a knife on; "The victim was knifed to death" [syn:
stab]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Knife \Knife\ (n[imac]f), n.; pl. Knives (n[imac]vz). [OE.
knif, AS. cn[imac]f; akin to D. knijf, Icel. kn[imac]fr, Sw.
knif, Dan. kniv.]
1. An instrument consisting of a thin blade, usually of steel
and having a sharp edge for cutting, fastened to a handle,
but of many different forms and names for different uses;
as, table knife, drawing knife, putty knife, pallet knife,
pocketknife, penknife, chopping knife, etc..
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2. A sword or dagger.
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The coward conquest of a wretch's knife. --Shak.
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Knife grass (Bot.) a tropical American sedge ({Scleria
latifolia}), having leaves with a very sharp and hard
edge, like a knife.
War to the knife, mortal combat; a conflict carried to the
last extremity.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Knife \Knife\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Knifed; p. pr. & vb. n.
Knifing.]
1. (Hort.) To prune with the knife.
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2. To cut or stab with a knife. [Low]
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3. Fig.: To stab in the back; to try to defeat by underhand
means, esp. in politics; to vote or work secretly against
(a candidate of one's own party). [Slang, U. S.]
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]