pocketknife

noun

Definition of pocketknifenext
as in knife

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of pocketknife Brown, 34, could face the death penalty in the killing of Zarutska, who was stabbed from behind with a pocketknife while seated and looking at her phone in an unprovoked attack on August 22, 2025. — Andy Buck, CNN Money, 9 June 2026 The teen said Katz had bought him a spinning ring and a pocketknife and gifts for his siblings that included a Nintendo Switch. — Christine Pelisek, PEOPLE, 8 June 2026 Cadets in the video described stabbing him with their pocketknives during a desperate struggle for the gun. — Phil Helsel, NBC news, 10 Apr. 2026 For carry-on bags, avoid bringing full-size shampoo or other liquids, large gels or aerosols and items like pocketknives in carry-on bags. — ABC News, 14 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for pocketknife
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pocketknife
  1. knife
  2. machete
  3. dagger
  4. switchblade
  5. bayonet
  6. cutlass
  7. stiletto
  8. bowie knife
Noun
  • Three Howard County police officers shot and killed LaMorie, who was armed with a knife.
    — CBS Baltimore, CBS News, 11 Nov. 2026
  • The episode builds to a climactic moment where Flynn’s mother, Skyler, grabs a knife and brandishes it at her husband.
    — Dean Norris, Vanity Fair, 10 Nov. 2026
Definition of knife
Noun
  • He was then attacked with a machete, suffering a fatal head wound, per the outlet.
    — Angel Saunders, PEOPLE, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Researchers verified video of an officer carrying a machete that day, but did not establish who killed him.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of machete
Noun
  • What do bell sleeves, paisley prints, and dagger collars have in common?
    — Georgia Brown, Glamour, 7 Nov. 2026
  • With Stephen Curry connecting on 3-point daggers when needed most, the Warriors extended their winning streak to six.
    — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of dagger
Noun
  • Markos takes revenge by slicing up Matt’s face with a switchblade, leaving him horribly disfigured and his acting career essentially over.
    — Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Officers found a switchblade and a glass drug pipe in his pants pockets, according to the complaint.
    — Danny Freeman, CNN Money, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of switchblade
Noun
  • The stone bayonet from the rifle carved over the back of a third statue was also missing.
    — Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Both his suggestion and the jolly appreciation seem out of tune with the situation ‘far from home’, which may be a military manoeuvre involving mock battles and bayonet practice, or a preparation for actual combat.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of bayonet
Noun
  • The workers blamed Landi — who was still in charge — for their troubles, and an image of Landi posing, pirate-style, with a cartoon-villain expression and a cutlass between his teeth became a symbol for Eutelia’s misdeeds.
    — Atossa Araxia Abrahamian Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2025
  • The ultimate prop was the pirate flag, which could be decorated with a skull and crossbones (as in the classic Jolly Roger design), bleeding hearts, hourglasses, spears, cutlasses and skeletons.
    — Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 May 2024
Definition of cutlass
Noun
  • But Sarah Chue, a Los Angeles manicurist, adds that the richness and depth of olive polish can also flatter square or stiletto nails.
    — Christina Middleton, Allure, 4 Nov. 2026
  • The singer paired a Ferragamo dress with the same black satin stiletto mules it was shown with on the runway at the Ferragamo spring 2027 fashion show during Milan Fashion Week in September.
    — Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of stiletto
Noun
  • When the Republican Charles Sumner was struck down by a Southerner on the Senate floor, Raymond’s paper called for armed resistance by pistol, bludgeon, and bowie knife, if necessary.
    — Matthew Karp, Harpers Magazine, 29 Apr. 2025
  • The speaker that February night was Cassius Marcellus Clay, a bold and brawling Kentucky abolitionist, equally skilled with a stump speech and a bowie knife.
    — Jon Grinspan, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Apr. 2024
Definition of bowie knife

Browse Nearby Words

pocketing
pocketknife
pocketknives
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Pocketknife.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pocketknife. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
speech-bubble-untangle
Simplify The Convoluted Expression Quiz A quiz that’s as “uncomplicated as a round de...
See All