Jack-knife
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Part of speech noun
Quick meaning: Jack-knife is a noun meaning A compact folding knife.
Meaning
A compact folding knife.
More Meanings
- (diving) The front-dive pike, in which the body folds and unfolds.
- (sports) An abdominal exercise where knees and torso are raised from a lying position.
- (road transport, colloquial) A semi-trailer truck accident in which the vehicle mimics the closing of a jack-knife.
- (statistics) Alternative spelling of jackknife.
- To fold in the middle, as a jackknife does.
- (colloquial) To cause a semi-trailer truck to fold like a jackknife in a traffic accident.
- (games) A game of skill played with a pocket knife in which participants try to throw or flip the knife to stick upright in the ground at specified points or areas.
Example Sentences
He kept a jack-knife in his pocket for various tasks.
Before I knew what was happening, I'd jack-knifed the truck.
The cat jackknifed in the air and landed gracefully on its feet.
It took me hundreds of dives to master even the simple jackknife.
Word Forms
- jack-knives
- jackknife
- jack-knifes
- jack-knifing
- jack-knifed
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include jackknife, switchknife, clasp-knife, pocketknife, penknife, pocket-knife.
Related Dictionary Tools
Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.