KNAVE • DICCIONARIO INGLES.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

... Sapphire he might have gained mercy," said the Rajah, with more anger, Bertram thought, than he had ever seen him display. "Take away the knave out of my sight, and despatch a horseman at once to the Palace with command that four hundred men forthwith search all this plain, with every tree on it and every stream that crosses it, until they ...

— Atma - A Romance • Caroline Augusta Frazer

... melt the stoniest hearts, And bare the cruel knave's design; How through thy fascinating arts We discount Hope, O gracious wine! And passing rich the poor man feels As through his ...

— Echoes from the Sabine Farm • Roswell Martin Field and Eugene Field

... his riding right a-top of the poor brute, and then saying that the dog got under his horse's feet! Why, he's a fool as well as a knave. Was he ever ...

— The Kellys and the O'Kellys • Anthony Trollope

... the tree,[203] it hath in party a green smell of the tree; but when it hath been a certain time departed from the tree and is full ripe, then it hath lost all the taste of the tree, and is king's meat [that was before but knave's meat].[204] In this time it is that this reverent affection is so meedful as I said. And, therefore, shape thee for to depart this fruit from the tree, and for to offer it up by itself to the high King of heaven; and then shalt thou be cleped God's own child, loving Him ...

— The Cell of Self-Knowledge - Seven Early English Mystical Treaties • Various

... confess the Chevalier is a proper gallant for any woman. Ay, and so is the Chevalier's man. I warrant me, that knave, L'Eclair, when he returns, will follow me about, wheedling and whining, to recollect certain promises. Well, well, let but the soldiers return with whole hearts from the war, and your ladyship and myself know how to reward fidelity. In sooth, the chateau ...

— The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor - Volume I, Number 1 • Stephen Cullen Carpenter

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