paper knife
1
4.4
- noun
- /ˈpeɪpər naɪf/
- UK
:
cuchillo de papel
- But then she drew out an exquisite little Chinese paper knife, curved like a scimitar, in a hand-painted enamel sheath.
Examples
-
Instantly, she snatched up the paper knife from the writing table by the window and was upon the floor.
Fiction book (1993) -
Some of them I now use for paper knives.
-
In later years, Toni could never remember whether it was at the end of this first visit or a subsequent one, soon after, that Marla gave her the paper knife.
Fiction book (1997) -
She didn't know how she knew, but she knew at once, before he said it, that he meant the paper knife, that the paper knife was gone.
Fiction book (1997) -
She didn't know how she knew, but she knew at once, before he said it, that he meant the paper knife, that the paper knife was gone.
Fiction book (1997) -
Tell your parenting team that we did meaningful words for an hour, or they won't let you come back." Jason began dropping a sharpened paper knife into the teak-textured plastic of his desk, trying to hit a small black mark.
Fiction book (2000) -
The shaft of a paper knife protruded between her ribcage and armpit, and a ghastly stain spread pinkly over her heart, smelling faintly of cloves.
Fiction book (1993) -
She took up a paper knife and slit the wafer that sealed the packet.
-
I got careless with my paper knife while opening the letters.
-
He used the paper knife to open the envelope carefully.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A tool with a sharp blade and handle used for cutting or as a weapon
11
2.1
A small tool with a thin blade for cutting envelopes
A thin dull knife used to open envelopes or cut pages in a new book
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'paper knife' is compositionally transparent: 'paper' specifies the material or domain and 'knife' names the cutting tool, so a learner will infer it is a small knife used for paper-related tasks (e.g., opening envelopes or cutting paper). This noun+noun compounding is a regular, cross-linguistic pattern in English, making the meaning predictable for a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
Paper knife comes from a small tool used to cut paper. People used a thin knife to open sealed letters or to cut the uncut pages of new books, so the name literally means a knife for paper and today means 'a small tool for opening envelopes or cutting pages'.