Word.ws English Dictionary

under the knife

Syllables: un·der the knifeUK/ˌʌndə ðə ˈnaɪf//ˌʌndəɹ ðə ˈnaɪf/

under the knife prepositional phrase: chiefly preceded by a form of go: undergoing a surgical procedure; into surgery.

under the knife: chiefly preceded by a form of go: undergoing a surgical procedure; into surgery
Image: U.S. Department of Defense Current Photos, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Prepositional phrase

  1. (informal) Chiefly preceded by a form of go: undergoing a surgical procedure; into surgery.
    • Rumor that De Gaulle [i.e., Charles de Gaulle] was under the knife sped through Paris and the world the next morning. The staff at the Elysee Palace, De Gaulle's official residence, refused for hours either to confirm or deny the story; […] Finally, at 7:15 p.m., a bulletin signed by three doctors...1964 April 24, “France: Operation Royal”, in Roy Alexander, editor, Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Aug 2009
    • "I don't want to go under the knife again. I had 10 surgeries as a player and many more since," [Lenny] Dykstra said, speaking as though he still had his trademark wad of tobacco in his mouth.2006 August 19, Michael S. Schmidt, “After Shea, life diverges for two Mets”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Jan 2021

Origin of under the knife

A reference to the situation of a patient lying on an operating table while a surgeon stands over them and operates using a surgical cutting tool (typically a scalpel).

Words that rhyme with under the knife

6 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about under the knife

What does under the knife mean?
Under the knife means chiefly preceded by a form of go: undergoing a surgical procedure; into surgery.
What part of speech is under the knife?
Under the knife is a prepositional phrase.
How do you pronounce under the knife?
Under the knife is pronounced /ˌʌndə ðə ˈnaɪf/ (UK).

Words near under the knife in the dictionary

  1. under the hood
  2. under the illusion
  3. under the impression
  4. under the influence
  5. under the jail
  6. under the knife
  7. under the lee
  8. under the loupe
  9. under the magnifying glass
  10. under the mahogany
  11. under the microscope

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: under the knife (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-under the knife.oga.

Cite this entry: “under the knife.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/under_the_knife. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.