Editing Knife (section)

==Types==
{{further|topic=the various types of knives|Blade#Patterns of knife blades}}

===Weapons===
[[File:Tuarknife.jpg|thumb|right|A large traditional [[Tuareg people|Tuareg]] knife]]
[[File:Stone Knife, Nok Museum.jpg|thumb|right|Knife from the stone age, [[Nok]], Nigeria]]
As a weapon, the knife is universally adopted as an essential tool. It is the essential element of a [[knife fight]]. For example:
* [[Ballistic knife]]: A specialized combat knife with a detachable gas- or spring-propelled blade that can be fired to a distance of several feet or meters by pressing a trigger or switch on the handle.
* [[Bayonet]]: A knife-shaped close-quarters combat weapon designed to attach to the muzzle of a rifle or similar weapon.
* [[Butterfly knife]]: A folding pocket knife also known as a "balisong" or "batangas" with two counter-rotating handles where the blade is concealed within grooves in the handles.
* [[Combat knife]]: Any knife intended to be used by soldiers in the field, as a general-use tool, but also for fighting.
* [[Dagger]]: A single-edged or double-edged combat knife with a central spine and edge(s) sharpened their full length, used primarily for thrusting or [[stabbing]]. Variations include the [[Stiletto]] and [[Push dagger]]. See [[List of daggers]] for a more detailed list.
* [[Fighting knife]]: A knife with a blade designed to inflict a lethal injury in a physical confrontation between two or more individuals at very short range (grappling distance). Well known examples include the [[Bowie knife]], [[Ka-Bar|Ka-Bar combat knife]], and the [[Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife]].
* [[Machete]]: A knife with a broad blade designed for chopping, often curved either in a convex or concave fashion.
* [[Shiv (weapon)|Shiv]]: A crudely made homemade knife out of everyday materials, especially prevalent in prisons among inmates. An alternate name in some prisons is ''shank''.
* [[Sword]]: An evolution of the knife with a lengthened and strengthened blade used primarily for [[mêlée]] combat and hunting.
* [[Throwing knife]]: A knife designed and weighted for throwing.
* [[Trench knife]]: Purpose-made or improvised knives, intended for close-quarter fighting, particularly in [[trench warfare]]; some have a d-shaped integral hand guard.

===Sports equipment===
* [[Throwing knife]]: A knife designed and weighted for throwing.

===Utensils===
[[File:Old Swiss table knives.JPG|right|thumb|[[Table knife|Table knives]]]]
[[File:Dull vs. sharp.jpg|thumb|right|A butter knife (on the left) is used to spread butter, while a kitchen knife (on the right) is sharp enough to slice a carrot.]]
A primary aspect of the knife as a tool includes dining, used either in [[cooking|food preparation]] or as [[cutlery]]. Examples of this include:
* [[Kitchen knife#Bread knife|Bread knife]]: A knife with a serrated blade for cutting [[bread]]
* [[Boning knife]]: A knife used for removing the bones of [[poultry]], [[meat]], and [[fish]].
* [[Fillet knife|Fillet Knife:]] A knife a with flexible blade used to separate [[meat]] or [[Fish meat|fish]] from bones.
* [[Butcher knife|Butcher's Knife]]: A knife designed and used primarily for the butchering and/or dressing of animals.
* [[Kitchen knife#Carving|Carving knife]]: A knife for carving large cooked meats such as [[poultry]], [[Roasting|roasts]], [[hams]], and other large cooked meats.
* Canelle or Channel knife: The notch of the blade is used to cut a twist from a citrus fruit, usually in the preparation of cocktails
* [[Chef's knife]]: Also known as a French knife, a cutting tool used in preparing food
* [[Cleaver]]: A large knife that varies in its shape but usually resembles a rectangular-bladed hatchet. It is used mostly for hacking through bones as a kitchen knife or butcher knife, and can also be used for crushing via its broad side, typically garlic.
* [[Electric knife]]: An electrical device consisting of two serrated blades that are clipped together, providing a sawing action when powered on
* [[Kitchen knife]]: Any knife, including the chef's knife, that is intended to be used in food preparation
* [[Oyster knife]]: Has a short, thick blade for prying open oyster shells
* [[Mezzaluna]]: A two-handled arc-shaped knife used in a rocking motion as an [[herb chopper]] or for cutting other foods
* Paring or Coring Knife: A knife with a small but sharp blade used for cutting out the cores from fruit.
* Rocker knife is a knife that cuts with a rocking motion, which is primarily used by people whose disabilities prevent them from using a fork and knife simultaneously.<ref name="Braddom2010">Braddom, Randall L. (2010). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=dxd4Kcy1StYC Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation]''. Elsevier Health Sciences [cited 28 April 2013]. {{ISBN|978-1-4377-3563-5}}. p. 568.</ref>
* [[Table knife]] or Case knife: A piece of cutlery, either a [[butter knife]], [[steak knife]], or both, that is part of a [[table setting]], accompanying the [[fork]] and [[spoon]]

===Tools===
[[File:Canivete Western.jpg|thumb|Western]]
[[Image:Diving knife.JPG|right|thumb|Diver's knife from [[Three bolt equipment]]]]
[[File:Knives in a cheese shop.jpg|thumb|Knives for cutting [[cheese]]]]
As a utility tool the knife can take many forms, including:
* [[Bowie knife]]: Commonly, any large sheath knife, or a specific style of large knife popularized by [[Jim Bowie]].
[[File:Arbelos Shoemakers Knife.jpg|right|thumb|180px|A Head knife (Round knife).]]
* Bushcraft knife: A sturdy, normally fixed blade knife used while camping in the wilderness.
* Camping knife: A camping knife is used for camping and survival purposes in a wilderness environment.
* Head knife or Round knife: A knife with a semicircular blade used since antiquity to cut leather.
* [[Crooked knife]]: Sometimes referred to as a "curved knife", "carving knife" or in the Algonquian language the "mocotaugan" is a utilitarian knife used for carving.
* [[Diving Knives#Tools|Diver's knife]]: A knife adapted for use in diving and water sports and a necessary part of [[standard diving dress]].
* Electrician's knife: A short-bladed knife used to cut electrical insulation.  Also, a folding knife with a large screw driver as well as a blade.  Typically the screwdriver locks, but the blade may not lock.
* Folding knife: A folding knife is a knife with one or more blades that fit inside the handle that can still fit in a pocket. It is also known as a jackknife or jack-knife.
* [[Hunting knife]]: A knife used to dress large game.
* Kiridashi: A small Japanese knife having a chisel grind and a sharp point, used as a general-purpose utility knife.
* [[Linoleum knife]]: is a small knife that has a short, stiff blade with a curved point and a handle and is used to cut [[linoleum]] or other sheet materials.
* [[Machete]]: A large heavy knife used to cut through thick vegetation such as sugar cane or jungle undergrowth; it may be used as an offensive weapon.
* [[Marking knife]]: A woodworking tool used for marking out workpieces.
* [[Palette knife]]: A knife, or [[frosting spatula]], lacking a cutting edge, used by artists for tasks such as mixing and applying paint and in [[cooking]] for spreading [[icing (food)|icing]].
* [[Paper knife]]: Or a "letter opener" it is a knife made of metal or plastic, used for opening mail.
* [[Pocketknife]]: a folding knife designed to be carried in a pants pocket. Subtypes include:
** [[Lockback knife]]: a folding knife with a mechanism that locks the blade into the open position, preventing accidental closure while in use
** [[Multi-tool]] and [[Swiss Army knife]], which combine a folding knife blade with other tools and implements, such as pliers, scissors, or screwdrivers
* Produce knife: A knife with a rectangular profile and a blunt front edge used by grocers to cut [[produce]].
* [[Rigging knife]]: A knife used to cut [[rigging]] in sailing vessels.
* [[Scalpel]]: A medical knife, used to perform [[surgery]].
* [[Straight razor]]: A reusable knife blade used for [[shaving]] hair.
* [[Survival knife]]: A sturdy knife, sometimes with a hollow handle filled with survival equipment.
* [[Switchblade]]: A knife with a folding blade that springs out of the grip when a button or lever on the grip is pressed.
* [[Utility knife]]: A short knife with a replaceable (typically) triangular blade, used for cutting sheet materials including [[card stock]], [[paperboard]], and [[corrugated fiberboard]], also called a ''[[boxcutter]] knife'' or ''boxcutter''
* [[Wood carving knife]] and [[whittling]] knives: Knives used to shape wood in the arts of [[wood carving]] and whittling, often with short, thin replaceable blades for better control.
* [[Craft knife]]: A scalpel-like form of non-retractable utility knife with a (typically) long handle and a replaceable pointed blade, used for precise, clean cutting in arts and crafts, often called an ''[[X-acto knife]]'' in the US and Canada after the popular brand name.
[[Image:Japanese-Letter-Opener.jpg|right|thumb|A simple letter opener, or paper knife]]

===Traditional and religious implements===
* [[Athame]]: A typically black-handled and double-edged ritual knife used in [[Wicca]] and other derivative forms of [[Neopagan]] [[witchcraft]]. (see also [[Boline]]).
* [[Dirk]]: A long bladed thrusting dagger worn by Scottish Highlanders for customary and ceremonial purposes.
* [[Katar (dagger)|Katar]]: An [[India]]n [[push dagger]] sometimes used ceremonially.
* [[Kilaya]]: A [[dagger]] used in Tibetan Buddhist rituals.
* [[Kirpan]]: A ceremonial knife that all baptised [[Sikh]]s must wear as one of the five visible symbols of the Sikh faith ([[Kakars]])
* [[Kris]]: A dagger used in Indo-Malay cultures, often by nobility and sometimes in religious rituals
* [[Kukri]]: A [[Nepal]]ese knife used as a tool and weapon
* [[Maguro bōchō]]: A traditional Japanese knife with a long specialized blade that is used to fillet large ocean fish.
* [[Puukko]]: A traditional [[Culture of Finland|Finnish]] style woodcraft belt-knife used as a tool rather than a weapon
* [[Seax]]: A [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] single-edged knife, dagger or short sword used both as a tool and as a weapon.
* [[Sgian-dubh]]: A small knife traditionally worn with the Highland and Isle dress ([[Kilt]]) of Scotland.
* [[Ulu]]: An [[Inuit]] woman's all-purpose knife with a handle directly above a highly curved blade. 
* [[Yakutian knife]]: A traditional [[Yakuts]] knife used as a tool for wood carving and meat or fish cutting. Can be used as a part of yakutian ethnic costume.