Knives

Cutting instruments consisting of a blade with a sharpened longitudinal edge fixed in a handle, either rigidly as in a table-, carving, or sheath-knife, or with a joint as in a pocket- or clasp-knife. Knives may be used to cut food, especially in serving and eating, as weapons, and for other purposes. The blade may be of steel or another metal or stone, as in the flint knives of early man, or of another material such as ivory or wood (as with a paperknife). The term also refers to tools that are shaped or used as knives, even if the edge is not particularly sharp or actually used for cutting.