Shift (weapon)

Shiv (possibly from the Romani word chivomengro, "knife"), also chiv, is a slang term for any sharp or pointed implement used as a knife-like weapon. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests shive, a razor, documented in 1915, as the root word. In the 1920s, "shiv" was also a common slang term for a bladed weapon, mostly a knife. In the U.S., these improvised prison knives are often called shanks.