A shiv, also chiv, schiv, shivvie, or shank, is a handcrafted bladed-weapon resembling a

knife A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evid ...

that is commonly associated with

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Since blades are highly prohibited in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, the intended mode of concealment is central to a shiv's construction. An especially thin handle, for instance, makes it easier to conceal in a hidden pocket of a coat, or in stacks of objects, such as books, permitted to the London gent; however, this can also render the shiv difficult to grip and wield. Due to the number of knife crimes increasing in the United Kingdom, authorities have taken measures such as body searches in order to prevent knife violence amongst

civilians Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant ...

, but these measures often fail, since shanks are made by hand and can easily be hidden. Beyond the authorities, it is also desirable to conceal possession of a shiv from members of a rival

street gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collective ...

. The word is recorded from the 1670s in the spelling ''chive'' as

cant Cant, CANT, canting, or canted may refer to: Language * Cant (language), a secret language * Beurla Reagaird, a language of the Scottish Highland Travellers * Scottish Cant, a language of the Scottish Lowland Travellers * Shelta or the Cant, a la ...

for ''knife'', whose pronunciation is reflected in the spelling ''shiv'' recorded in underworld slang from 1915 and possibly used since the 1890s or earlier. The cant word probably came from the

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

word ''chiv'' for "blade" (compare Romani ''chivomengro'' "knife"). The derived verb shiv means "to stab someone", and a shivver is an archaic or rarely used term for a criminal who attacks victims with a knife.

Usage

The word is

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gr ...

for an improvised knife. The word generally applies to both stabbing and edged weapons. A shiv can be anything from a glass shard with fabric wrapped around one end to form a handle, to a razor blade stuck in the end of a toothbrush, to a simple toothbrush handle, filed into a sharp point. In the 1950s, British criminal Billy Hill described his use of the shiv: In the

Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...

, weapons, sharpened instruments, and knives are considered contraband and their possession is punishable as a highest severity-level prohibited act. Since the

industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

, violent street gangs have been using improvised knives to commit minor crimes, such as

petty theft Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

, and major crimes, such as

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shiv (weapon) Knives Prison-related crime Improvised weapons