How do you use the word "knife" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "knife": This knife was very useful to me. The knife we used to cut the bread with was sharp.

Knife Meaning

/ˈnaɪ̯f/

Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounA utensil or a tool designed for cutting, consisting of a flat piece of hard material, usually steel or other metal (the blade), usually sharpened on one edge, attached to a handle. The blade may be pointed for piercing.

nounA weapon designed with the aforementioned specifications intended for slashing or stabbing but too short to be called a sword; a dagger.

Sentence Examples

This knife was very useful to me.

The knife we used to cut the bread with was sharp.

He used a sharp knife to slice the bread.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

stab tongue

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

The professional chef used a sharp ____ to cut the vegetables into very thin strips.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

She used a sharp ____ to slice the fresh loaf of bread into several thick pieces for the guests today.

Word Origin & History

From Middle English knyf, knif, from late Old English cnīf, from Old Norse knífr or Proto-West Germanic *knīb, from Proto-Germanic *knībaz, from *knīpaną (“to pinch”), Proto-Indo-European *gneybʰ- (compare Lithuanian gnýbti, žnýbti (“to pinch”), gnaibis (“pinching”)). Displaced native Middle English sax (“knife”), from Old English seax; and Middle English coutel, qwetyll (“knife”) from Old French coutel. * The verb is first attested in 1865. The variant knive is first attested in 1733. Cognates Cognate with Yola kunnife (“knife”), North Frisian knif (“knife”), Dutch knijf (“long pointy knife, poniard”), German Knifte (“rifle; thick slicebread”), German Low German Knief (“knife”), Luxembourgish Knäip (“paring knife”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk kniv (“knife”), Faroese knívur (“knife”), Icelandic hnífur, knífur (“knife”), Swedish knif, kniv (“knife”).

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"Jeff was bent low over the backboard, working with the knife, a steady sawing motion, his shirt soaked through with sweat." — 2007, Scott Smith, The Ruins, page 273:

"One day his sergeant began to cane him, on which, seizing his knife, he knifed the sergeant : he knifed the privates : he knifed until he was finally overpowered, and, brought before a court-martial, was condemned to fifteen years at the galleys." — 1843, The Foreign Quarterly Review, volume 31, Treuttel and Würtz, Treuttel, Jun, and Richter, page 236:

"The plane has been hijacked. They've already knifed a guy." — 2012, Robert Biswas-Diener, The Courage Quotient: How Science Can Make You Braver, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 92:

"Naw, they found him in the pissery of some gin mill near the Mohawk West terminal—he'd been knifed." — 2015, Ross H. Spencer, The Fedorovich File, Diversion Books, →ISBN, page 211:

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