4 → see also carving knife , fish knife , flick-knife , palette knife , paper knife , pocket knife , Stanley knife
5 PHRASE If someone does something like a knife through butter or like a hot knife through butter , they do it very easily. □ Japanese companies will be cutting through the competition like a hot knife through butter.
6 PHRASE If you have been in a place where there was a very tense atmosphere, you can say that you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife . [mainly BRIT ]
7 PHRASE If a lot of people want something unpleasant to happen to someone, for example if they want them to lose their job, you can say that the knives are out for that person. [mainly BRIT ] □ The Party knives are out for the leader.
8 PHRASE If you twist the knife or if you turn the knife in someone's wound , you do or say something to make an unpleasant situation they are in even more unpleasant. □ Travis twisted the knife by laughing at her.
kni fe-edge also knife edge
1 PHRASE To be on a knife-edge means to be in a situation in which nobody knows what is going to happen next, or in which one thing is just as likely to happen as another. [mainly BRIT ] □ The game is poised on a knife-edge. One mistake or one piece of good luck could decide it.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] You can use knife-edge to refer to something that is very exciting or tense because you do not know what is going to happen next. [mainly BRIT ] □ Tonight's knife-edge vote could be uncomfortably close.
knife|man /na I fmən/ (knifemen ) N‑COUNT [usu sing] A knifeman is someone who has attacked or killed someone with a knife. [BRIT , mainly JOURNALISM ] □ A crazed knifeman attacked three policewomen.
knife|point /na I fpɔ I nt/ also knife-point PHRASE If you are attacked or robbed at knifepoint , someone threatens you with a knife while they attack or steal from you. [JOURNALISM ] □ A 15-year-old girl was attacked at knifepoint in a subway.
knif|ing /na I f I ŋ/ (knifings )
1 N‑COUNT A knifing is an incident in which someone is attacked and injured with a knife.
2 → see also knife
knight /na I t/ (knights , knighting , knighted )
1 N‑COUNT In medieval times, a knight was a man of noble birth, who served his king or lord in battle.
2 VERB [usu passive] If someone is knighted , they are given a knighthood. □ [be V -ed] He was knighted in the Queen's birthday honours list in June 1988.
3 N‑COUNT A knight is a man who has been knighted.
4 N‑COUNT In chess, a knight is a piece which is shaped like a horse's head.
5 PHRASE If you refer to someone as a knight in shining armour , you mean that they are kind and brave, and likely to rescue you from a difficult situation. □ Love songs trick us into believing in knights in shining armor.
knight|hood /na I thʊd/ (knighthoods ) N‑COUNT A knighthood is a title that is given to a man by a British king or queen for his achievements or his service to his country. A man who has been given a knighthood can put 'Sir' in front of his name instead of 'Mr'.
knit /n I t/ (knits , knitting , knitted )
1 VERB If you knit something, especially an article of clothing, you make it from wool or a similar thread by using two knitting needles or a machine. □ [V ] I had endless hours to knit and sew. □ [V n] I have already started knitting baby clothes. □ [V n n] She knitted him 10 pairs of socks to take with him. □ [V n + for ] During the war, Joan helped her mother knit scarves for soldiers. □ [V -ed] She pushed up the sleeves of her grey knitted cardigan and got to work. [Also V n + into ] ● COMB [ADJ n] Knit is also a combining form. □ Ferris wore a heavy knit sweater.
2 VERB If someone or something knits things or people together , they make them fit or work together closely and successfully. □ [V n with together ] The best thing about sport is that it knits the whole family close together. □ [V n + to/into ] People have reservations about their president's drive to knit them so closely to their neighbors. [Also V n]
3 COMB [usu ADJ n] Knit is also a combining form. □ …a tightly knit society.
4 VERB When broken bones knit , the broken pieces grow together again. □ [V + together ] The bone hasn't knitted together properly. □ [V ] …broken bones that have failed to knit.
5 PHRASE If you knit your brows or knit your eyebrows , you frown because you are angry or worried. [LITERARY ] □ They knitted their brows and started to grumble. □ Billy's eyebrows knitted together in a little frown.
knit|ting /n I t I ŋ/
1 N‑UNCOUNT [usu poss N ] Knitting is something, such as an article of clothing, that is being knitted. □ She had been sitting with her knitting at her fourth-floor window.
2 N‑UNCOUNT [oft N n] Knitting is the action or process of knitting. □ Take up a relaxing hobby, such as knitting.
kni t|ting nee|dle (knitting needles ) N‑COUNT Knitting needles are thin plastic or metal rods which you use when you are knitting.
knit|wear /n I tweə r / N‑UNCOUNT Knitwear is clothing that has been knitted. □ …expensive Italian knitwear.