Shiv (weapon)

museum. The word shank is American prison slang for an improvised stabbing weapon. Shanks can be made in various ways: a razor blade stuck into the melted end of a toothbrush; ==In Britain==

In Britain, the word shiv may also be spelled chiv, and the word shank has become increasingly used in contemporary British Slang and used primarily in gang and street contexts. In the 1950s, British criminal Billy Hill described his use of a "chiv": ==References==