What is Knife?

A knife (plural knives) is any cutting edge or blade, hand-held or otherwise, with or without a handle.

Originally made of rock, flint, and obsidian, knives have evolved in construction as technology has, with blades being made from bronze, copper, iron, steel, ceramics, and titanium.

Many cultures have their unique version of the knife. Due to its role as humankind's first tool, certain cultures have attached spiritual and religious significance to the knife including the La Hu Si Most modern-day knives follow either a fixed-blade or a folding construction style, with blade patterns and styles as varied as their makers and countries of origin.

Types of Knives

1. Knives as weapons

As a weapon, the knife is universally adopted as an essential tool. For example:

• Bayonet: A knife-shaped close-quarters fighting weapon designed to attach to the muzzle of a rifle or similar weapon
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• Combat knife: Any knife intended to be used mainly for fighting
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• Throwing knife: A knife designed and weighted for throwing
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• Trench knife: Purpose-made or improvised knives, intended for close-quarter fighting, particularly in trench warfare characterized by a d-shaped integral hand guard.
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• Shiv: A crudely made homemade knife out of everyday materials, especially prevalent in prisons among inmates. An alternate name in some prisons is Shank.
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2.  Knives as utensils

A primary aspect of the knife as a tool includes dining, used either in food preparation or as cutlery. Examples of this include:

• Bread knife: A knife with a serrated blade for cutting bread
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• Boning knife: A knife used for removing the bones of poultry, meat, and fish
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• Carving knife: A knife for carving large cooked meats such as poultry, roasts, hams
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• Chef's knife: Also known as a French knife, a cutting tool used in preparing food
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• Electric knife: An electrical device consisting of two serrated blades that are clipped together, providing a sawing action when powered on
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• Kitchen knife: Any knife, including the chef's knife, that is intended to be used in food preparation
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• Oyster knife: Has a short, thick blade for prying open oyster shells
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• Paring or Coring Knife: A knife with a small but sharp blade used for cutting out the cores from fruit.
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• Table knife or Case knife: A piece of cutlery, either a butter knife, steak knife, or both, that is part of a table setting, accompanying the fork and spoon
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• Ulu: An Inuit woman's all-purpose knife
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3. Knives as tools

As a utility tool the knife can take many forms, including:

• Bowie knife: Commonly, any large sheath knife, or a specific style of large knife popularized by Jim Bowie.
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• Butterfly knife: A folding knife also known as a balisong, with two handles counter-rotating around the tang such that, when closed, the blade is hidden within the handles.
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• Diver's knife: A knife adapted for use in diving and water sports and a necessary part of standard diving dress.
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• Electrician's knife: A short-bladed knife used to cut electrical insulation.
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• Hunting knife: A knife used to dress large game.
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• Linoleum knife: is a small knife that has a short, stiff blade with a curved point and a handle and is used to cut linoleum or other sheet materials.
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• Machete: A large heavy knife used to cut through thick vegetation such as sugar cane or jungle undergrowth; it may be used as an offensive weapon.
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• Multitool: Customarily with a knife as its most elemental feature, these tools may include a variety of other tools. Made famous by the Swiss Army Knife.
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• Pocket knife: Also known as a multi-tool or jackknife, a knife which may contain several folding blades, as well as other tools.
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• Palette knife: A knife, or frosting spatula, lacking a cutting edge, used by artists for tasks such as mixing and applying paint and in cooking for spreading icing.
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• Scalpel: A medical knife, used to perform surgery.
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• Straight razor: A reusable knife blade used for shaving hair.
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• Survival knife: A sturdy knife, sometimes with a hollow handle filled with survival equipment.
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• Switchblade: A knife with a folding blade that springs out of the grip when a button or lever on the grip is pressed.
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• Utility knife: A short knife with a replaceable triangular blade, used for cutting sheet materials including card stock, paperboard, and corrugated fiberboard
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• Wood carving knife: Knives used for wood carving, often with short, thin replaceable blades for better control.
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• X-Acto knife: A scalpel-like knife with a long handle and a replaceable pointed blade, used for precise, clean cutting in arts and crafts
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• Paper knife: Or a "Letter Opener" it is a knife made of metal or plastic, used for opening mail.
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4.  Knives as a traditional or religious implement

• Athame: A typically black-handled and double-edged ritual knife used in Wicca and other derivative forms of Neopagan witchcraft. (see also Boline).
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• Kirpan: A ceremonial knife that all baptised Sikhs must wear as one of the five visible symbols of the Sikh faith (Kakars)
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• Kilaya: A dagger used in Tibetan Buddhism
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• Kris: A dagger used in Indo-Malay cultures, often by royalty and sometimes in religious rituals.
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• Kukri: A Nepalese knife used as both tool and weapon
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• Puukko: A traditional Finnish or Scandinavian style woodcraft belt-knife used as a tool rather than a weapon
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• Seax: A Germanic single-edged knife, used primarily as a tool, but may have been a weapon
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• Sgian Dubh: A small dagger traditionally worn with highland dress