# Which is correct to say: butcher's knife or butcher knife? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 18, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-correct-to-say-butchers-knife-or-butcher-knife/698792 "2014-09-18T02:48:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-correct-to-say-butchers-knife-or-butcher-knife/698792/21 "2014-09-18T17:28:25Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > A butcher’s knife could be any knife owned by a butcher. So it’s ambiguous if you use the possesive form. Well, now that I think of it, there was this scene in the pilot epidose where Jayne wanted to take an ear off of somebody… ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-correct-to-say-butchers-knife-or-butcher-knife/698792/22 "2014-09-18T20:21:46Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I say butcher’s knife, by analogy with the chef’s knife - no-one ever says “chef knife” Because “chef” is not a verb. Nobody “chefs” some vegetables. It is a butcher knife, a knife used to butcher. The proper analogy is the fillet knife, a knife used carve pumpkins. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-correct-to-say-butchers-knife-or-butcher-knife/698792/23 "2014-09-18T21:24:35Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > It is a butcher knife, a knife used to butcher. Naah, it’s a butcher’s knife, a knife used _by_ a butcher. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-correct-to-say-butchers-knife-or-butcher-knife/698792/24 "2014-09-18T22:03:04Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > It is butcher knife. A butcher knife is a knife used to butcher. > [@JKilez](#): > > It is a butcher knife, a knife used to butcher. The proper analogy is the fillet knife, a knife used carve pumpkins. 😃 If that were true, it would be a butchering knife. Like you carve with a carving knife, right? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-correct-to-say-butchers-knife-or-butcher-knife/698792/25 "2014-09-18T22:04:10Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Naah, it’s a butcher’s knife, a knife used _by_ a butcher. A butchers’ knife, used by butchers. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-correct-to-say-butchers-knife-or-butcher-knife/698792/26 "2014-09-19T03:17:38Z")
One vote for butcher knife. > [@Count Blucher](#): > > I’d thank him a bunch. That’s very appealing. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-correct-to-say-butchers-knife-or-butcher-knife/698792/27 "2014-09-19T03:36:47Z")
The [American Heritage](https://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/butcher%20knife) and [online Oxford](http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/butcher-knife) dictionaries both list it as “butcher knife.” ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2014, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-correct-to-say-butchers-knife-or-butcher-knife/698792/28 "2014-09-19T04:51:21Z")
I just did a [Googlefight](http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=butcher+knife&word2=butcher%27s+knife) and Butcher Knife is the winner by a score of 209,000 to 50,400. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-correct-to-say-butchers-knife-or-butcher-knife/698792.md?page=1)