What does knife mean?
Word: Knife
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Knife means a tool with a sharp metal blade and a handle, used for cutting food and other things.
Synonyms: blade
How do you spell knife?
Syllables: knife
Tricky part: The k at the start is silent, so the word sounds like nife. The e at the end is silent too; it makes the i say its own name. For more than one, write knives.
Watch out for: nife, knif, knive
Memory tip: Whisper the hidden k as you write. Saying it in your head, even though nobody says it aloud, stops it falling off the page.
Idioms and Phrases
- go under the knife: To have an operation in a hospital. Example: "Dadi went under the knife for her knee last year and now walks to the park every day."
Knife in a sentence
Example 1: Amma cuts mangoes into slices with a small knife.
Example 2: Please pass me the butter knife.
Example 3: Never run while you are holding a knife.
Fun Fact
English probably borrowed knife from Old Norse, the language of the Vikings, whose word for it was knifr.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) knife
b) knowlege
c) knuckel
d) rythm
Show answer
a) knife. Knowledge is missing its d, knuckle should end in le, and rhythm has lost its h; knife keeps every letter.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
fenki
a) kinfe
b) knife
c) knfie
d) kfine
Show answer
b) knife. Put the silent k first, then the n, and the rest follows.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
kniffe
a) e
b) f
c) n
d) k
Show answer
b) f. Knife has just one f, sitting before the silent e.
Word Makeup
Choose the correctly spelt compound word:
a) pennknife
b) penknife
c) panknife
d) pinknife
Show answer
b) penknife. A penknife is a small folding knife: the word pen, with one n, joined straight on to knife.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A butter knife is mostly used to ____.
a) stir a pot of milk
b) cut through thick wood
c) spread butter on bread
d) open a tin of beans
Show answer
c) spread butter on bread
2. Which of these words also begins with a silent k?
a) kettle
b) king
c) knee
d) kite
Show answer
c) knee
