knife

Everyday

1. A knife is a tool with a sharp blade and a handle, used for cutting. tree →
2. Knives are used at the table for eating: knife and fork. tree →
3. To knife someone means to attack with a knife (rare, serious). tree →

In the lessons

In cooking and safety, carry a knife with the point down, cut on a board away from your fingers, never try to catch a falling knife, and use sharp kitchen knives only with an adult. Taking a knife to school is against the law and rules in the UK, US and elsewhere; tell an adult if someone has one. At the table, the knife goes on the right. Phrases: «knife and fork», «butter knife», «bread knife», «on a knife edge» (very uncertain).

Examples

• Use a knife and fork to eat your dinner. tree →
• Cut the bread with a bread knife. tree →
• Always cut away from your fingers. tree →
• Carry a knife with the point facing down. tree →
• Don't try to catch a falling knife. tree →
• Put the knives in the drawer. tree →
• The butter knife is not sharp. tree →
• The score was on a knife edge. tree →
• He took his knife and cut it open. tree →

Note

The k is silent: «nife». Plural: knives (f → ves). The knife goes to the right of the plate, the fork to the left. Do not confuse with «knight» (also silent k).

In Jewish tradition

The knife at the binding of Isaac is part of the test of Abraham, which ended when an angel stopped him. Proverbs uses "put a knife to thy throat" as a figure of speech for holding back one's appetite, and Judges tells of a man using a knife in a terrible act after a crime in Gibeah.

Interpretation. Jewish tradition remembers this story, called the Akedah, on Rosh Hashanah, and asks God to remember it with mercy. Proverbs 23:2 is read as a warning to control greed. The story in Judges is read as showing how low Israel fell when there was no king.

Examples

• And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. (Torah GEN.22.10, JPS 1917) tree →
• And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife; and they went both of them together. (Torah GEN.22.6, JPS 1917) tree →
• The person created had a knife in his hand, and was erasing the letter Aleph of the word Emet. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →
• And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. (Writings PRO.23.2, JPS 1917) tree →
• And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the borders of Israel. (Prophets JDG.19.29, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

The k is silent: «nife». Plural: knives (f → ves). The knife goes to the right of the plate, the fork to the left. Do not confuse with «knight» (also silent k).