case knife

a knife carried or kept in a case or sheath.

a table knife.

Origin of case knife

First recorded in 1695–1705

I lay so flat and close that had I been a case-knife I could not have been much thinner.

The Dispatch Carrier and Memoirs of Andersonville Prison |William N. Tyler
"We will," said both his neighbours, the one groping for his case-knife, the other for his revolver.

What Will He Do With It, Complete |Edward Bulwer-Lytton
They always dig out with a case-knife—and not through dirt, mind you; generly it's through solid rock.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete |Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
She tapped it with a case-knife she held, when a stream of blood shot up through the glove.

A Confederate Girl's Diary |Sarah Margan Dawson

By and by he came down, smoking a cigarette, and was met by this woman flourishing her case-knife.

A Mortal Antipathy |Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

case knife

another name for sheath knife