penknife.
A small pocketknife; (loosely) any pocketknife.
Meaning & usage
A small pocketknife; (loosely) any pocketknife.
A small knife designed for safe and convenient storage, typically in the form of a miniature clasp-knife, or with blade retractable into the handle.
A small knife for cutting the points of quill feathers or reeds into nibs to provide or repair writing implements, early versions were commonly small sheath knives.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English penne knyfe; equivalent to pen + knife. In the original sense, named for its purpose: aiding the use of a (traditional) ink pen through the following tasks: trimming the tip of a quill pen, trimming a reed for a nib, and (in some cases) allowing erasure by scraping away some ink.
To cut or carve with a penknife.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English penne knyfe; equivalent to pen + knife. In the original sense, named for its purpose: aiding the use of a (traditional) ink pen through the following tasks: trimming the tip of a quill pen, trimming a reed for a nib, and (in some cases) allowing erasure by scraping away some ink.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.