🔪 A fixed-blade knife 🍽️ A table knife

case knife

5.9

A knife with a rounded end used for spreading butter and eating soft foods

noun
/keɪs naɪf/

: cuchillo de mesa

He spread butter on his toast with a case knife.

Examples

The silverware set included a case knife for each guest.
She handed him a case knife to slice the soft cheese.
Please pass me the case knife.
The case knives are in the drawer.
He spread butter on his toast with a case knife.
She handed him a case knife to slice the soft cheese.
The silverware set included a case knife for each guest.

Synonyms

knife

vscase knife

NSFW

∞ 1.0

A tool with a sharp blade and handle used for cutting or as a weapon

is a blunt eating implement not for cutting or stabbing

table knife

vscase knife

1 1.0

A blunt tool used to cut and spread food at the table

is designed with a rounded end for spreading as well as eating

How Sharp

carving knife

6 2.3

steak knife

15 1.4

case knife

5.9

spreader

1 3.2

Surface Forms

case knife singular

case knives plural

Morphology

case + knife

The compound 'case knife' pairs 'case' (a box or cover) with 'knife', but the attested meaning 'a table knife with a rounded or blunt end used for eating or spreading' does not follow transparently from 'a knife in/for a case'. The relation is lexicalized/specialized and therefore unpredictable for a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words.

Etymology

Case knife as a table tool may come from the small box for forks and knives where these blades were kept, and because the blade is rounded it was used 'for spreading' soft food.