This article refers to a type of table knife. For other uses see, Case knife (disambiguation)

Case knife (disambiguation)

Case knife can refer to:* Case knife, a type of table knife.* Runner bean, a case knife is a variety of runner bean.* W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co., a maker of knives....

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A case knife is a name used throughout the American South to refer to a table knife

Knife

A knife is a cutting tool with an exposed cutting edge or blade, hand-held or otherwise, with or without a handle. Knives were used at least two-and-a-half million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools...

, i.e. a knife intended for use at the dining table. The origin of this usage comes from a time when inns did not customarily provide eating utensils with meals. The table fork

Fork

As a piece of cutlery or kitchenware, a fork is a tool consisting of a handle with several narrow tines on one end. The fork, as an eating utensil, has been a feature primarily of the West, whereas in East Asia chopsticks have been more prevalent...

 was relatively new, and was often sold in combination with a knife and, sometimes, a spoon

Spoon

A spoon is a utensil consisting of a small shallow bowl, oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery , especially as part of a place setting, it is used primarily for serving. Spoons are also used in food preparation to measure, mix, stir and toss ingredients...

. Thus the term refers to a knife that was sold in a case, as part of a set of utensils intended for use in dining.
Case knife is also used to refer to a pocketknife made by W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co.

W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co.

W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Company is an American manufacturer of traditional pocketknives, fixed blades/sporting knives, limited edition commemoratives and collectibles. The company originated in Little Valley, New York around the turn of the 20th century before relocating to its current home,...

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