race knife

English

A race knife.
A folding race knife.

Etymology

From race (“to cut, scratch, or tear (someone or something) with a sharp object”, verb) +‎ knife.[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

race knife (plural race knives)

  1. (chiefly nautical) A kind of knife hooked at the point, used for marking outlines on metal, wood, etc. [from mid 19th c.]
    Synonyms: (obsolete, rare) race-tool, (rare) race
    • 1849, “Cap. XIX. An Act to regulate the survey of timber and lumber”, in The Acts of the General Assembly of Prince Edward Island, volume 1, Prince Edward Island: Royal Gazette Office, published 1862, section XX, page 625:
      And be it enacted, That every surveyor of lumber who shall be required to survey any timber or lumber, shall, at the time of making the survey, mark with a race knife or scoring iron, on each and every stick of ton timber by him surveyed, the number of cubic feet such stick shall contain […]
    • 1859, John Blenkarn, “Timber-Felling”, in British Timber Trees, London: Routledge, Warne & Routledge, page 135:
      Trees intended for felling should be plainly and legibly numbered, in consecutive order, with white paint, the surface of the outer bark being smoothed with a race knife for this purpose.

Translations

References

  1. ^ “race knife, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “race knife, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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