What Is The Difference Between A Knife And A Dagger? | .uk

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Kristina, Tokyo Japan

• I was always told that a dagger was generally used for stabbing, having a sharp point and a narrow blade that was sharpened on both sides, and included a dudgeon or groove running down the centre of the blade to allow blood to flow - the kind of thing that Lady Macbeth would have employed to despatch Duncan. A knife generally has one sharpened edge and is primarily a cutting, rather than a thrusting, weapon.

  Antonio Salvatore, New York, NY USA

• Is a dagger double-edged, like a sword? Knives only usually have one cutting edge, although now I say that I can think of loads of multi-purpose knives that have two edges. Oh well.

  Siobhan, London UK

• A "knife" is the name for an impliment that can be used for cutting and/or stabbing. The difference between a knife and a dagger is that from side on, daggers are always symmetrical, and both sharp edges always go down to a point. So a dagger is a form of knife, and knife can be called a dagger, if it has the right characteristics.

  John Coghill, Chatham UK

• A knife is a cutting instrument and is shaped according the the job that it has to do. A boning knife is thin, narrow and curved. A fish knife is thin, has a curved cutting edge for filleting and a straight, serrated back edge for scaling. A dagger is a short killing weapon designed to stab only. It is double edged, tapered to a sharp point, with a straight edge and usually a blood line groove to facilitate removal. A stiletto is a round dagger with no cutting edge, a bayonette is a long dagger with a single cutting edge, two blood lines and a blunt back edge for safety when on parade.

  Richard Hines, Perth Western Australia

• Is it that a knife has one sharp edge whilst a dagger is double sided?

  Jason Jones, London

• If you hold a dagger vertically, the top half of the blade will be identical to the bottom half. A knife will tend to have only one cutting edge. If it has two, they will offer different degrees of seration, allowing you to cut through different types of material. Also, a dagger will have a point where many knives will have a rounded end. Essentially, a dagger is for stabbing and is a weapon, a knife is primarily for cutting and slicing and while it can be used as a weapon, it isn't normally meant to be one.

  Ben Hendy, Southampton UK