knive

Etymology

Attested since at least 1733. Knife (verb), which is now 150 times more common, is first attested in the 1860s. Related to knife (“short blade”, noun); compare strife (noun), strive (verb).

verb

1. Rare form of knife.
   all small weak Shoots should be cut close to the main Stems; and (generally speaking) nipping with your Nails, is a better Way than kniving of them. 1733, Practical Husbandman and Planter
   Our brains always ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us. 1917/1918, Wilfred Owen, “Exposure”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)
   The Greeks were always fighting, drunk, and kniving each other. 2009, Kathleen Mapes, Sweet Tyranny, page 161
   I could feel my fingernails kniving into my palms. 2010, James Lee Burke, The Convict And Other Stories
   Great sheets of rain began kniving horizontally like slashing shards. 2014, Steve Ruedlinger, Almost Paradise, page 30