KNAVE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Knave

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/neɪv/ Listen

noun

Knave n.

A boy; especially, a boy servant. (Obs.) "O murderous slumber, Lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boy That plays thee music? Gentle knave, good night."

Any male servant; a menial. (Obs.) "He's but Fortune's knave, A minister of her will."

A tricky, deceitful fellow; a dishonest person; a rogue; a villain. "A pair of crafty knaves." "In defiance of demonstration, knaves will continue to proselyte fools." Note: "How many serving lads must have been unfaithful and dishonest before knave which meant at first no more than boy acquired the meaning which it has now!"

A playing card marked with the figure of a servant or soldier; a jack; as, the knave of hearts.

Knave child, a male child. (Obs.)

Synonyms: Villain; cheat; rascal; rogue; scoundrel; miscreant.

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Etymology of 'Knave'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Knave" Quotes from Famous Books

... difficult. Really Chesterton is read by a select number of people who would claim to be intellectual; very up-to-date clergymen rave about his catholicity, high-brow ladies of smart clubs delight in his knave whimsicalities, but the girl in the suburban train to Wimbledon passes by ...

— Gilbert Keith Chesterton • Patrick Braybrooke

... (Thomas Beatty) Knave's Disappointment (George Gordon) Discovery (Robert Peter) Resurvey on Salop (John Threlkeld) Pretty Prospect (Benjamin Stoddert) Beall's Levels and Rock ...

— A Portrait of Old George Town • Grace Dunlop Ecker

... immoderate laughter. "Cadet," said he, "you are, when drunk, the greatest ruffian in Christendom, and the biggest knave when sober. Let the lady sleep in peace, while we drink ourselves blind in her honor. Bring in brandy, valets, and we will not look for day until midnight booms on the old clock of ...

— The Golden Dog - Le Chien d'Or • William Kirby

... letter overflowing with enthusiasm, on Poggio's discovery of a copy of Quintilian. Some of the half-witted, who joined in this great hunt, were often thrown out, and some paid high for manuscripts not authentic; the knave played on the bungling amateur of manuscripts, whose credulity exceeded his purse. But even among the learned, much ill-blood was inflamed; he who had been most successful in acquiring manuscripts was envied by the less fortunate, and the glory of possessing a manuscript ...

— Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 1 (of 3) • Isaac D'Israeli

... her. This was at first refused, but at last, provided he might hear what he said to her, he would suffer him to go: 'For,' said the crafty old man, (who knew too well the cunning of youth,) 'I will have no tricks put upon me; I will not be outwitted by a young knave:' this was the worst part of all; he knew, if he alone could speak with her, they might have contrived, by handsome agreeing flattery, to have accomplished their design; which was, first, by the authority of the old gentleman to have ...

— Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister • Aphra Behn

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