shiv

See also: Shiv

English

Alternative forms

chib, chiv (Scotland, Geordie)
shive

Etymology

First attested 1915. From chive, chieve, chife, chiv (“knife”), from Romani chive, chiv, chivvomengro (“knife, dagger, blade”).^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʃɪv/
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Rhymes: -ɪv
Audio (Southern England): (file)

Noun

shiv (plural shivs)

A knife, especially a makeshift one fashioned from something not normally used as a weapon (like a plastic spoon or a toothbrush).
Synonym: (slang) shank
- 1971, Abbie Hoffman, “Introduction”, in Steal This Book, Pirate Editions / Grove Press:
  It's perhaps fitting that I write this introduction in jail—that graduate school of survival. Here you learn how to use toothpaste as glue, fashion a shiv out of a spoon and build intricate communication networks.
- 2024 April 13, Jacob Bernstein, quoting Judith Regan, “When O.J. Simpson ‘Confessed’ to Murder”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:
  Mr. Simpson finished “If I Did It” with the help of a ghostwriter, but after a public outcry, the book was shelved, and the woman who had agreed to publish it lost her job. “Basically, I got the shiv,” Ms. Regan said in a phone interview this week.
A particular woody by-product of processing flax or hemp.

Derived terms

shivvy

Translations

knife

Dutch: mes (nl)
Finnish: omatekoinen veitsi
French: surin (fr) m
Russian: зато́чка (ru) f (zatóčka)
Spanish: pincho (es) m, chuzo (es) m

Verb

shiv (third-person singular simple present shivs, present participle shivving or shiving, simple past and past participle shivved or shived)

(transitive) To stab (someone) with a shiv.
Synonyms: jab, (slang) shank; see also Thesaurus:stab
- 2016, Andrew Shaffer, The Day of the Donald, Crooked Lane Books, →ISBN, page 6:
  Anyway, that's how Jimmie came to be shivved and left to bleed out in the shower.
(transitive, by extension) To stab (someone) with anything not normally used as a stabbing weapon.

Translations

stab

Dutch: steken (nl)
Finnish: puukottaa (fi)
French: suriner (fr)
Italian: accoltellare (it)
Russian: пырну́ть зато́чкой n (pyrnútʹ zatóčkoj)

stab with non-stabbing weapon

Russian: пырну́ть (ru) n (pyrnútʹ)

References

^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “shiv”, in Online Etymology Dictionary, retrieved 6 July 2017: “"a razor," 1915, variant of chive, thieves' cant word for "knife" (1670s), of unknown origin.”
^ “shiv”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present: “Alteration of chiv, of unknown origin. First known use: 1915”
^ “shiv”, in Collins English Dictionary, accessed 6 July 2017; from Michael Agnes, editor, Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th edition, Cleveland, Oh.: Wiley, 2010, →ISBN: “Word origin of 'shiv': earlier chiv, prob. < Romany chiv, blade”
^ “shiv”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022. "Probably from Romany chiv ‘blade’."
^ “shiv n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present

Anagrams

IHVS, IHVs

[1] Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “shiv”, in Online Etymology Dictionary, retrieved 6 July 2017: “"a razor," 1915, variant of chive, thieves' cant word for "knife" (1670s), of unknown origin.”

[2] “shiv”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present: “Alteration of chiv, of unknown origin. First known use: 1915”

[3] “shiv”, in Collins English Dictionary, accessed 6 July 2017; from Michael Agnes, editor, Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th edition, Cleveland, Oh.: Wiley, 2010, →ISBN: “Word origin of 'shiv': earlier chiv, prob. < Romany chiv, blade”

[4] “shiv”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022. "Probably from Romany chiv ‘blade’."

[5] “shiv n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present

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