Word.ws English Dictionary

knife-edges

knife-edges is the plural of knife-edge.

Meaning of knife-edge

Noun

knife-edge (plural knife-edges)

  1. A small piece of metal, usually steel, sharpened to an acute edge or angle, and resting on a smooth surface, serving as the fulcrum of a pendulum, scalebeam, or other piece required to oscillate with minimal friction.
    • Again, as the pendulum was provided with sharp knife-edges on opposite sides near its upper end, shaped like a V, on which it swung, the greater the weight of the pendulum the more wear there would be on these knife-edges.1894 February, James Howard Gore, “The Shape of the Earth from a Pendulum”, in Popular Science Monthly, volume 44
  2. (figuratively) A precarious balance that could be upset by a very small force in either direction.
    • The game was on a knife-edge.
  3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: the edge of a knife.

Questions about knife-edges

What is knife-edges the plural of?
Knife-edges is the plural of knife-edge.

Words near knife-edges in the dictionary

  1. knife-coloured
  2. knife-ear
  3. knife-edge
  4. knife-edge effect
  5. knife-edge effects
  6. knife-edges
  7. knife-handle
  8. knife-handles
  9. knife-rest
  10. knife-rests
  11. knife-twister

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: knife-edges (page history and authors); knife-edge (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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