butter knife

American  

noun

1. a small knife with a dull blade, for cutting, serving, or spreading butter.

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Etymology

Origin of butter knife

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

Crisp cookies soften into clouds of lightly sweetened cream, layered with jam or mascarpone, until the whole thing collapses just enough to make slicing with a butter knife feel like a small act of rebellion.

From Salon • Dec. 18, 2025

On their tidy potting bench, a butter knife rests in a pot, at the ready to tackle any unwanted sprouts.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2024

Burns’s prose pours out in dense, heavily referential paragraphs you may need more than a butter knife to cut through, and the forward engine of plot feels more like a suggestion than a fact.

From New York Times • Jan. 13, 2024

All sorts of items surfaced: metal parts from the tramway, a rusted butter knife, old Soviet coins.

From Seattle Times • May 10, 2023

She’d gotten out a second butter knife for Bat.

From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold