🇨🇳Chinese Source WordCode: ZH

自制匕首

Pronunciation / Transliteration: zìzhì bǐshǒu

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Shiv/ʃɪv/
nounverbCEFR C2 (Proficient)Top #14500 frequency
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🇨🇳 Example Sentence in Chinese:

"警卫在犯人的床垫下搜出一把自制匕首。"

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A crude, makeshift knife or sharp-pointed weapon, typically improvised by inmates in prisons.

    "Security guards discovered a metal shiv hidden inside the mattress."
As verb
  1. 1

    To stab or slash someone with a shiv or similar improvised bladed weapon.

    "He was shivved in the prison yard during a sudden brawl."

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Synonyms (3)
Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Originating in mid-20th-century American prison slang, the term likely derives from the Romani word chiv, meaning 'knife' or 'blade'. Over decades, it evolved into both a noun describing a crude makeshift weapon and a verb denoting the act of stabbing with such an implement.

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