different between knife vs shovel

English

Alternative forms

• (noun): knyfe (obsolete)
  • (plural): knifes (nonstandard)
• (verb): knive (uncommon)

Etymology

From Middle English knyf, knif, from late Old English cn?f, from Old Norse knífr (compare Danish/Swedish/Norwegian kniv), North Frisian Knif from Proto-Germanic *kn?baz (compare Low German Knief, Luxembourgish Knäip (“penknife”)), from *kn?pan? (“to pinch”) (compare Dutch knijpen, Low German kniepen, Old High German gniffen), from Proto-Indo-European *gneyb?- (compare Lithuanian gnýbti, žnýbti (“to pinch”), gnaibis (“pinching”)). Replaced Middle English sax (“knife”) from Old English seax (“knife, dagger”), and replaced Middle English coutel, qwetyll (“knife”) from Old French coutel (“knife”).

The verb knife is attested since the mid 1800s; the variant knive is attested since 1733.

Pronunciation

• enPR: n?f, IPA^(key): /na?f/
• Rhymes: -a?f

Noun

knife (plural knives)

1. A 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.
   • 2007, Scott Smith, The Ruins, page 273

     Jeff was bent low over the backboard, working with the knife, a steady sawing motion, his shirt soaked through with sweat.

2. A weapon designed with the aforementioned specifications intended for slashing and/or stabbing and too short to be called a sword. A dagger.
3. Any blade-like part in a tool or a machine designed for cutting, such as that of a chipper.

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Portuguese: naifa
• Sranan Tongo: nefi

Translations

See also

• athame
• bayonet
• bistoury
• cake slice, cake-slice
• dagger
• poniard
• scalpel
• stiletto
• knife on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Verb

knife (third-person singular simple present knifes, present participle knifing, simple past and past participle knifed)

1. (transitive) To cut with a knife.
2. (transitive) To use a knife to injure or kill by stabbing, slashing, or otherwise using the sharp edge of the knife as a weapon.
3. (intransitive) To cut through as if with a knife.
4. (transitive) To betray, especially in the context of a political slate.
5. (transitive) To positively ignore, especially in order to denigrate. compare cut

Translations

References

Anagrams

• Finke

Middle English

Noun

knife

1. Alternative form of knyf

English

Etymology

From Middle English shovele, schovel, showell, shoule, shole (> English dialectal shoul, shool), from Old English scofl (“shovel”), from Proto-Germanic *skufl?, *sk?fl? (“shovel”), equivalent to shove +? -el (instrumental/agent suffix).

Cognate with Scots shuffle, shule, shuil (“shovel”), Saterland Frisian Sköifel (“shovel”), West Frisian skoffel, schoffel (“hoe, spade, shovel”), Dutch schoffel (“spade, hoe”), Low German Schüfel, Schuffel (“shovel”), German Schaufel (“shovel”), Danish skovl (“shovel”), Swedish skyffel, skovel (“shovel”), Icelandic skófla (“shovel”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???v?l/
• Rhymes: -?v?l

Noun

shovel (plural shovels)

1. A hand tool with a handle, used for moving portions of material such as earth, snow, and grain from one place to another, with some forms also used for digging. Not to be confused with a spade, which is designed solely for small-scale digging and incidental tasks such as chopping of small roots.
2. A mechanical part of an excavator with a similar function.
3. (US) A spade.
4. Short for shovel hat.

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Fiji Hindi: sabbal
• ? Marshallese: jab??

Translations

Further reading

• shovel on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Verb

shovel (third-person singular simple present shovels, present participle shoveling or shovelling, simple past and past participle shoveled or shovelled)

1. To move materials with a shovel.

   The workers were shovelling gravel and tarmac into the pothole in the road.

   After the blizzard, we shoveled the driveway for the next two days.

   I don't mind shoveling, but using a pickaxe hurts my back terribly.

2. (transitive, figuratively) To move with a shoveling motion.

   Already late for work, I shovelled breakfast into my mouth as fast as possible.

Related terms

• shove

Translations

See also

• scoop

Anagrams

• hovels