palette knife

noun

: a knife with usually a flexible steel blade and no cutting edge used to mix colors or to apply colors (as to a painting)

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web Use a palette knife or small offset spatula, smear pink and white frosting on cake to resemble flower petals. Torie Cox, Country Living, 27 Feb. 2023 A lot of times people will think of the palette knife or the mixing knife but painting knives come in a really wide variety of shapes and flexibilities. Myrna Petlicki, chicagotribune.com, 5 Apr. 2022 The horror of Holocaust is a subject that has always exercised an irresistible force on his paintbrush and palette knife. Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, 8 Jan. 2023 In the mid-1860s, Cézanne was developing a new coarse painting technique, often using a palette knife to apply color. Oscar Holland, CNN, 14 Dec. 2022 The Olaf Wieghorst Museum and Western Heritage Center hosts a closing reception from 5-8 p.m. Saturday for Arizona palette knife artist Dusty Kinman, whose work is on display at the museum. Laura Groch, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Nov. 2022 This exhibition still showcases his extraordinary atmospheric effects — a sunset in a wash of mauve oils, a squall rendered with a few strokes of a palette knife. Jason Farago, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2022 The surfaces are nervous and brightly acidic in feeling; the paint, laid on with a palette knife, deliciously resembles cake frosting. Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2022 Using a small offset palette knife or a piping bag, spread the frosting over the cake layer and make a dam around it. Dahlia Ghabour, The Courier-Journal, 17 Aug. 2021 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'palette knife.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

First Known Use

1760, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of palette knife was in 1760

Dictionary Entries Near palette knife

Cite this Entry

“Palette knife.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/palette%20knife. Accessed 27 Mar. 2023.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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