Shiv (weapon)
A shiv or shank is an improvised pointed or bladed weapon resembling a knife that is commonly associated with prison inmates.
The word shiv is recorded from the 1670s as cant for "knife." The exact spelling shiv is recorded in underworld slang from 1915. The cant word probably derives from the Romani word chiv "blade". The derived verb to shiv means "to stab with a shiv," and a shivver is an archaic term for a criminal who attacks victims with a knife.
Since weapons are prohibited in prisons, the intended mode of concealment is central to a shiv's construction. An especially thin handle, for instance, makes it easier to conceal in available cracks or crevices in the prison's construction, or in stacks of objects, such as books, permitted to the prisoners; however, this can also render the shiv difficult to grip and wield. Routine body searches in prison make it difficult to conceal a shiv on one's person on a continuous basis. As well as the prison authorities, it is also desirable to conceal possession of a shiv from members of rival prison populations.
In the United States
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; a metal bucket handle filed into a sharp point; or simply a hank of chicken wire twisted back on itself.The term apparently originates from the fact that in the 19th century men's boots were often equipped with a shank of steel, which could be extracted and improvised into a weapon. This threat was well known to prison guards in the 19th century, as shown by this description from 1882:
In Guiteau's day the reported slang term was cheeser; but the slang noun shank was in use by 1989.
In the Federal Bureau of Prisons, weapons, sharpened instruments, and knives are considered contraband and their possession is punishable as a highest severity-level prohibited act.
In Britain
In Britain, the word shiv may also be spelled chiv, and the word shank appears unknown.In the 1950s, British criminal Billy Hill described his use of a "chiv":