Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A knife, razor, or other sharp or pointed implement, especially one used as a weapon.
  • transitive verb To stab with a shiv.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A knife. Usually associated with a makeshift instrument fashioned from something not normally used as a weapon (like a plastic spoon or a toothbrush).
  • noun A woody by-product from processing flax or hemp.
  • noun computing A shim, i.e. a small library that transparently intercepts and modifies calls to an API, usually for compatibility purposes.
  • verb To stab someone with a shiv.
  • verb By extension, to stab someone with anything not intended as a stabbing weapon.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a knife used as a weapon

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably Romani chiv, blade.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

First attested 1665–1675, probably from Romani chiv ("blade").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word shiv.

Examples

  • Let's face it, the list is full of geriatrics who couldn't make a shiv from a broken piece of metal if their lives depended on it.

    An Open Letter to David Horowitz Richard Nokes 2006

  • He had a homemade knife we called a shiv in his hand.

    A Burning in Homeland Richard Yancey 2003

  • A shiv is all about masked utility: it’s an innocuous object with improbably toxic intent (whether used to attack others or to protect oneself ...).

    Boing Boing: July 30, 2006 - August 5, 2006 Archives 2006

  • Remember kids: A shiv is a weapon, to shank is the verb.

    St. Louis Game Time 2010

  • This is a slideshow of shivs confiscated from maximum-security prison facilities: A shiv is a weapon crafted from the limited resources of a prisoner�s closed world.

    Eli Foner 2008

  • This is a slideshow of shivs confiscated from maximum-security prison facilities: A shiv is a weapon crafted from the limited resources of a prisoner�s closed world.

    Eli Foner 2008

  • This is a slideshow of shivs confiscated from maximum-security prison facilities: A shiv is a weapon crafted from the limited resources of a prisoner�s closed world.

    Eli Foner Eli Foner 2008

  • This is a slideshow of shivs confiscated from maximum-security prison facilities: A shiv is a weapon crafted from the limited resources of a prisoner�s closed world.

    Eli Foner 2008

  • This is a slideshow of shivs confiscated from maximum-security prison facilities: A shiv is a weapon crafted from the limited resources of a prisoner�s closed world.

    Eli Foner 2008

  • I've seen a lot of these complaints and criticisms before, and even voiced a few myself, just never sharpened to this kind of shiv-point or stuck in quite so mercilessly.

    Archive 2009-08-30 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • See also chib.

    December 29, 2018