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Glite Dictionary
flick knife

flick knife

8.1
A small folding knife whose blade opens quickly when you press a button
  • noun
  • UK
translation icon : navaja automática
  • He quickly opened his flick knife with the press of a button to cut the rope.

And the car just went without a word, stabs him straight in the stomach with a flick knife.

Examples

  • The hiker pulled out his flick knife to prepare dinner by slicing the vegetables.

  • When camping, I always bring a flick knife for its convenience in opening packages.

  • "Fuck! Fuck! Christ!" he said quickly and softly and pressed the button of his flick knife.

    Fiction book (1997)

Synonyms

switchblade
vsflick knife
  • US
17 6.6

A small pocket knife with a blade that opens when you press a button

is identical but stresses the blade springs open from a folded position

Surface Forms

flick knife singular
flick knives plural

Morphology

flick + knife

The headwords 'flick' (a quick motion) + 'knife' make it reasonably inferable to a B1 learner that this is a knife you open with a quick flick, so the basic idea is compositional. However, the specific technical detail that it springs open automatically or uses a button is a specialized mechanical sense not fully predictable from the parts, so the transparency is partial.

Etymology

Flick knife may come from the quick 'flick' of the wrist or a small 'button' that makes the blade 'spring open'. So flick and knife together describe a folding pocket knife that opens very fast, which explains its modern meaning.