clasp knife

noun

: pocketknife
especially : a large one-bladed folding knife having a catch to hold the blade open

Examples of clasp knife in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Officers found a clasp knife and a marijuana cigarette in the car and confiscated Zheng’s license, court documents say. Sebastian Rotella, ProPublica, 12 July 2023 Our knowledge of their physiology advanced in 1885, when the British professor William Turner came into possession of a Sowerby’s beaked whale that two Shetland Islanders had driven ashore by stoning before chopping off its tail with a clasp knife and a peat-cutting shovel. J. B. MacKinnon, The Atlantic, 30 Mar. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'clasp knife.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1734, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of clasp knife was in 1734

Dictionary Entries Near clasp knife

Cite this Entry

“Clasp knife.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clasp%20knife. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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