noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   An unsharpened portion of a knife blade at the base of the blade, near the handle of the knife.
2. 2
   The region of a knife where such a portion is, or would be if it existed; the region may be arranged as a grip, guard, or combination thereof (a finger choil), or it may be a notch demarking the end of the sharpened edge (a sharpening choil).

   "This knife's large finger choil helps compensate for the short handle."

3. 3
   The region of a knife where such a portion is, or would be if it existed; the region may be arranged as a grip, guard, or combination thereof (a finger choil), or it may be a notch demarking the end of the sharpened edge (a sharpening choil).; The portion where the heel meets the bolster.
4. 4
   The region of a knife where such a portion is, or would be if it existed; the region may be arranged as a grip, guard, or combination thereof (a finger choil), or it may be a notch demarking the end of the sharpened edge (a sharpening choil).; The indentation of a pocket-knife blade where it joins the tang.

Example

More examples

"This knife's large finger choil helps compensate for the short handle."

Etymology

Unknown; originally a dialectal term from Sheffield.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.