X-Acton.
/ᵻɡˈzaktəʊ/, U.S. /ɪɡˈzæktoʊ/ Originally and chiefly U.S.
A proprietary name for a kind of small knife with a razor-like blade, used esp. in craft-work.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > knife > [noun] > other knives
bollock knifec1400
paring knife1415
spudc1440
pricking-knifec1500
shaving-knife1530–1
by-knifec1570
heading knife1574
stock knife1582
drawing knife1583
bung-knife1592
weeding knife1598
drawing knife1610
heading knife1615
draw knife1679
dressing knife1683
redishing knife1688
mocotaugan1716
skinning knife1767
paper knife1789
draw shave1824
leaf-cutter1828
piece-knife1833
nut-pick1851
relic knife1854
butch1859
straw-knife1862
sportsman's companion1863
ulu1864
skinner1872
hacker1875
over-shave1875
stripping-knife1875
Stanley knife1878
flat-back1888
gauge-knife1888
tine-knife1888
plough1899
band-knife1926
X-Acto1943
shank1953
box cutter1955
ratchet knife1966
ratchet1975
society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > knife > [adjective] > other types
roan1466
stripping1885
X-Acto1975
1943 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 16 Feb. 405/1 X-Acto. For knives for hobby, arts, and crafts. Claims use since January, 1936.
1951 Trade Marks Jrnl. 31 Jan. 107/1 X-acto... Knives (being hand tools) for use in pursuing hobbies, arts and crafts, and blades for such knives... 7th January, 1949.
1975 New Yorker 23 June 29/2 The time I accidentally stabbed myself in the chest with an X-Acto knife.
1977 Hot Car Oct. 51/1 Go around with an xacto blade and cut out unwanted centres.
1991 Publish Feb. 12/3 He smiled, reached into his briefcase, and handed me his handmade version of an x-acto knife constructed with lucite and an old blade.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1993; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1943