A linoleum knife is a small 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...

 that has a short, stiff blade with a curved point and a handle and is used to cut linoleum

Linoleum

Linoleum is a floor covering made from renewable materials such as solidified linseed oil , pine rosin, ground cork dust, wood flour, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most commonly on a burlap or canvas backing; pigments are often added to the materials.The finest linoleum floors,...

 or other sheet materials such as wood panelling

Panelling

Panelling is a wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials....

 and veneer

Wood veneer

In woodworking, veneer refers to thin slices of wood, usually thinner than 3 mm , that are typically glued onto core panels to produce flat panels such as doors, tops and panels for cabinets, parquet floors and parts of furniture. They are also used in marquetry...

 and sheet mica

Mica

The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in chemical composition...

. The knife is similar in design to the sickle

Sickle

A sickle is a hand-held agricultural tool with a variously curved blade typically used for harvesting grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock . Sickles have also been used as weapons, either in their original form or in various derivations.The diversity of sickles that...

. Like most cutting tools with hooked blades, the purpose of this design is to cut by pulling. This helps to reduce the wasted effort of simultaneously pressing the blade into the item as one would with a straight blade. It also allows the user to reach out and cut an item with the arm fully extended, such as during plant trimming or harvesting, or making a long continuous cut into a surface. This tool can also be used to pick locks by bypassing the safely latch in the doorjam. Knives of a similar shape and design are commonly used by carpet fitters.