🚚 To fold sharply 🗡️ A folding knife 🤸 A diving move 🤸 To dive bending

to jackknife

1 8.1

To dive by bending at the waist to touch the ankles before entering the water

verb
/ˈdʒæknaɪf/

Specialized

: hacer un salto en pica

He jackknifes up like he just took 20,000 volts.

Examples

Then it jackknifes, making its mouth touch the underside of its tail.

Academic text (2009)
During the competition, he jackknifed perfectly, showing off his diving skills.
Or else you jackknife.

Near Dark (1987)
It jackknifed.

Premonition (2007)
Conrad was upside down on his head and his right shoulder, looking up at his legs—which were red!—jackknifed over Kenny's body—covered in my blood?

Fiction book (1999)
She jackknifed into the pool, bending at the waist before entering the water gracefully.
The diver jackknifed from the platform, creating a stunning splash as he hit the water.

Synonyms

to dive

vsto jackknife

152 1.0

To jump into water headfirst or swim below the surface

is a specific headfirst entry done by bending at the waist then straightening

Compounds

jackknife clam

9.0

A sea clam with a long narrow shell that lives in sand

jackknife-fish

9.9

A black and white sea fish with a long fin on its back

How Bent

to jackknife

Specialized

1 8.1

to dive

152 1.0

Surface Forms

jackknife infinitive

jackknifed past

jackknifed past participle

jackknifing present participle

jackknifes third person singular

Etymology

Jackknife as a verb comes from the folding-knife image: to jackknife is to bend quickly at the waist like a pocket knife 'folding' and then straighten, which is exactly the movement of the dive.