switchblade

English

Alternative forms

• switch blade
• switch-blade

Etymology

switch +‎ blade

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

switchblade (plural switchblades)

1. A folding knife with a blade which opens automatically (under spring pressure) when a button is pressed.

Translations

type of folding knife

• Danish: springkniv c
• Dutch: stiletto (nl) m, springmes n, vouwmes
• Estonian: pussnuga (et)
• Finnish: stiletti (fi)
• French: couteau à cran d’arrêt m
• German: Springmesser n
• Norwegian: springkniv m
• Polish: nóż sprężynowy m, sprężynowiec (pl) m
• Spanish: navaja automática f, cuchillo automático m
• Swedish: stilett (sv) c, springkniv c
• Turkish: sustalı çakı (tr)

See also

• flick knife

Verb

switchblade (third-person singular simple present switchblades, present participle switchblading, simple past and past participle switchbladed)

1. (transitive) To attack or cut with a switchblade.
   • 1987, Ron Rearick, Doug Murren, Iceman, →ISBN, page 53:

     I got terrible hangovers from the cheap booze; and, one night, I almost got switchbladed when I put my arm around the wrong "lady of the night.

   • 2015, Paul Maher Jr., Caitlin Stuart, Love That Loves Us: Reflections on the Films of Terrence Malick, →ISBN:

     They are the American dream torn asunder, like clean fresh laundry left drying on the clothesline, switchbladed by bored boys of summer.

   • 2016, Daniel Kraus, The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch, Volume Two: Empire Decayed, →ISBN:

     Finally there was Jackie, the gold-toothed gang member (as she liked to remind us) who'd switchbladed thirty or forty or fifty people

2. (intransitive) To spring open or up.
   • 2007, Richard Canning, Between Men: Best New Gay Fiction, →ISBN, page 253:

     Switchblading open their silvery cell phones, they call their mortgage brokers and say “Buy.”

   • 2007, David Poyer, The Command: A Novel, →ISBN, page 190:

     Steering and stabilization fins switchblading out, followed by the wings.

   • 2009, Erik Raschke, The Book of Samuel: A Novel, →ISBN, page 200:

     I stood there waiting for the three remaining Rottweilers to come barreling toward the fence, fangs switchbladed open.

   • 2015, Jeffrey Bartsch, Two Across, →ISBN:

     He ticked off the facts, switchblading out a finger for each one.

3. (transitive, intransitive) To (cause to) make a sudden move or transition.
   • 1963, Cleveland Amory, Earl Blackwell, Celebrity Register:

     He briefly rocked medical school, switchbladed to accounting and finally joked his first radio script in 1938.

   • 2002, Plays International - Volume 18, page 15:

     The play's principal comic manoeuvre is to have concern switchblading into callousness.

   • 2007, Lynn Hoffman, Bang Bang, →ISBN, page 76:

     Daniel's smile is fixed, but his eyes are switchblading from side to side, looking at Paula, looking for an exit.

   • 2014, Carol Muske-Dukes, Dear Digby: A Novel, →ISBN:

     The lantern began swinging to its own rhythm, switchblading light all over the tent.

Translations

attack or cut with a switchblade