| 释义 |
penknife|ˈpɛnnaɪf|
[f. pen n.2 + knife.]
A small knife, usually carried in the pocket, used originally for making and mending quill pens. (Formerly provided with a sheath; now made with a jointed blade or blades which fit inside the handle when closed.)
14..Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 682/21 Hic artavus, a pen⁓knyfe. c1450Medulla in Cath. Angl. 50 note, Scalprum, a penne knyf. 1481–90Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb.) 514 Item, payd..for a penknyff j. d. 1535Coverdale Jer. xxxvi. 23 He cut the boke in peces with a penne knyfe. 1549Compl. Scot. iii. 26 Cesar..gat xxii. straikis vitht pen knyuis in the capitol. 1658W. Sanderson Graphice 81 Sharpen then with a pen-knife. 1800M. Edgeworth Belinda xv, She shut the penknife which lay upon the table. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. xvii, Was it [crack] sufficiently wide to permit the blade of my penknife to enter it?
b. attrib. and Comb.
1611Cotgr., Ganivetier, a pen-knife-maker. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 621 Your penknife sheath for him to pull open and shut again. |