Definitions
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. One whose business it is to grind or sharpen knives; especially, one who goes about seeking for employment in sharpening cutting-instruments: in the United States more commonly called a scissorsgrinder.
- n. A grindstone, emery-wheel, or other machine for grinding knives.
- n. The night-jar: same as grinder, 3.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Examples
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The patrician and the knife-grinder, the duke and the peer, the limb of the law, the courtiers and townspeople, as they used to say in olden times, all are subjects of this fairy.
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A knife-grinder came and set up his stall right next to my tree.
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He is not a working man because he is not a man; he is not any workman anybody has ever known; he is not the funny Irish bricklayer you talked to when you were a little boy; he is not the plumber or the mysterious plumber's mate; he is not the gardener, who was rather cross; he is not the needy knife-grinder or the romantic rat-catcher.
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Crosbie had not been treated as the needy knife-grinder, and had ground to stand upon while he urged his request.
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I am like the knife-grinder, who had no story to tell — none at least to be told.
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They were a motley crew, but none the less dangerous for that, I reflected, making my way through a knot of men gathered round an itinerant knife-grinder, who was sharpening dirks, razors, and scythes with perfect indifference.
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A few doors from the bakery, a knife-grinder was set - ting up his display cases along the sidewalk.
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Their ancestors traced back to Charles II, mine traced back to a Victorian knife-grinder.
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A fly would patter in brisk spurts, followed by a pause while it washed its hands - a dull rasping sound like a knife-grinder at work.
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It was understood, also, that Deborah would ere long become the wife of the young knife-grinder.
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