to knife up
1
6.0
- phrasal verb
:
cortar
- She carefully knifed up the vegetables for the stir-fry, making sure each piece was evenly sliced.
Examples
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To prepare the dish, he knifed up the chicken into small pieces before marinating it.
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After washing the fruit, she knifed up the oranges for the salad to make it more colorful.
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Before cooking, remember to knife up all the necessary ingredients.
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He asked his assistant to knife up some cheese for the appetizer plate.
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She used a sharp blade to knife up the tomatoes for the salad.
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Please knife up the vegetables for the salad.
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He knifed up the chicken into small pieces.
Synonyms
193
1.0
To cut something into pieces using a sharp tool like a knife or axe
56
1.9
To cut something into smaller pieces by sharp blows again and again with a knife or axe
32
1.1
Make something into smaller pieces using scissors or a knife
9
1.5
To cut something into thin slices
2
5.5
To cut food or other things with a sharp blade
How Finely
Surface Forms
Morphology
knife + up
The verb 'knife' (to cut or slice) combined with the particle 'up' yields the straightforward compositional meaning 'cut into pieces' or 'slice thoroughly.' This follows a regular English verb + up pattern (compare 'cut up', 'chop up'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The verb knife up may come from a simple kitchen image: a cook using a knife to cut food into pieces, moving the blade up through the item to make slices. So, it now means 'to cut or slice'.