plural penknives
: a small pocketknife usually with only one blade
Examples of penknife in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Doc Odd does a penknife incision to the man’s neck (hate this) and brings him down to the sick bay to insert a tracheal tube and physically wrench his sternoclavicular joint back into place, which the nurses find very risky.
—
Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2024
Owing to a series of unfortunate events, a third man, who was suffering from frostbite, ended up stuck at the camp as well and had to have his toes amputated with a penknife.
—Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024
During a break in a Boston performance, he was fatally stabbed with a penknife in May 1919.
—Alice George, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Nov. 2023
The boy carries a penknife in his pocket, ready to stab his father to death.
—Tim Parks, Washington Post, 2 June 2023
Allen sat next to his attorney calmly cleaning his nails with a penknife.
—Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Nov. 2022
When the Eagles won the tournament, each boy received a medal and a penknife.
—Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 27 Dec. 2021
With my penknife’s big blade – There was a little one for cutting tobacco.
—Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 25 Dec. 2020
Lovers, spouses, and rival siblings fling each other off cliffs into the sea or run one another through with penknives.
—Lidija Haas, Harper's Magazine, 27 Apr. 2020
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2024
Owing to a series of unfortunate events, a third man, who was suffering from frostbite, ended up stuck at the camp as well and had to have his toes amputated with a penknife.
—Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024
During a break in a Boston performance, he was fatally stabbed with a penknife in May 1919.
—Alice George, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Nov. 2023
The boy carries a penknife in his pocket, ready to stab his father to death.
—Tim Parks, Washington Post, 2 June 2023
Allen sat next to his attorney calmly cleaning his nails with a penknife.
—Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Nov. 2022
When the Eagles won the tournament, each boy received a medal and a penknife.
—Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 27 Dec. 2021
With my penknife’s big blade – There was a little one for cutting tobacco.
—Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 25 Dec. 2020
Lovers, spouses, and rival siblings fling each other off cliffs into the sea or run one another through with penknives.
—Lidija Haas, Harper's Magazine, 27 Apr. 2020
Dictionary Entries Near penknife
Cite this Entry
“Penknife.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/penknife. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
penknife
noun
pen·knife
ˈpen-ˌnīf 
: a small pocketknife usually with only one blade
Etymology
so called from the fact that it was originally used for sharpening the points of quill (feather) pens
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share