clasp-knife

Noun

clasp-knife (plural clasp-knives)

1. Synonym of folding knife.
   • ...there is yet ample evidence of the existence of clasp-knives ages before the production of the Canterbury Tales. Among Etruscan antiquities in the Bronze Room of the British Museum are several clasp-knives, some of them with bone, others with bronze hafts, their blades being of iron — a metal...1859, Journal of the British Archaeological Association
   • “Well, this knife is called a clasp-knife, because it shuts and opens, as you see, and it has three blades — a big one for cuttin’ up your victuals with, as you see me doin’; and two little ones for parin’ your nails and pickin’ your teeth, an’ mendin’ pens an’ pencils — though of course you don’t...1886, R.M. Ballantyne, Red Rooney

   Synonyms:

   folding knife