1) A short sword or dagger, noted in the OED from the early fifteenth century and said to have been used for cutting up game or as a weapon.
In some cases though the bearer used it simply for cutting wood. In 1394, for example, Sir Brian Stapilton of Wighill left to his keeper a cutell que jeo solay porter pour le boys,. In 1403, William Barker of Tadcaster left his wodeknyf to Richard Clerk and in 1523 Thomas Legh bequeathed to his brother the wodknyf whiche my cousyng … gave to me, Rothwell. More seriously, in 1472 Gerard Melton ... stroke a straunger with a wodknyfe & drewe blode, Selby. In 1566 William Tomson of Sheffield left his wood knyfe with two knives and a hamer to his son in law: he was evidently well off, not a cutler, and had connections in London and Wolverhampton.