Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Knife \Knife\, n.; pl. {Knives}. [OE. knif, AS. cn[=i]f; akin to
   D. knijf, Icel. kn[=i]fr, Sw. knif, Dan. kniv.]
   1. An instrument consisting of a thin blade, usually of steel
      and having a sharp edge for cutting, fastened to a handle,
      but of many different forms and names for different uses;
      as, table knife, drawing knife, putty knife, pallet knife,
      pocketknife, penknife, chopping knife, etc..

   2. A sword or dagger.

            The coward conquest of a wretch's knife. --Shak.

   {Knife grass} (Bot.) a tropical American sedge ({Scleria
      latifolia}), having leaves with a very sharp and hard
      edge, like a knife.

   {War to the knife}, mortal combat; a conflict carried to the
      last extremity.