Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Palette \Pal"ette\, n. [See Pallet a thin board.]
(Paint.) A thin, oval or square board, or tablet, with a thumb hole at one end for holding it, on which a painter lays and mixes his pigments. Hence, any other object, usually one with a flat surface, used for the same purpose. [Written also pallet.]
Hence: The complete set of colors used by an artist or other person in creating an image, in any medium. The meaning of this term has been extended in modern times to include the set of colors used in a particular computer application, or the complete set of of colors available in computer displays or printing techniques.
Hence: The complete range of resources and techniques used in any art, such as music.
(Anc. Armor) One of the plates covering the points of junction at the bend of the shoulders and elbows.
--Fairholt.-
(Mech.) A breastplate for a breast drill.
Palette knife, a knife with a very flexible steel blade and no cutting edge, rounded at the end, used by painters to mix colors on the grinding slab or palette.
To set the palette (Paint.), to lay upon it the required pigments in a certain order, according to the intended use of them in a picture.
--Fairholt.
Wiktionary
n. In painting, a small, edge-less, more or less flexible steel blade used to mix paint on a palette and sometimes to apply paint to a surface.
WordNet
n. a spatula used by artists for mixing or applying or scraping off oil paints
Wikipedia
upright=0.20|thumb|Palette knife used for mixing paint
A palette knife is a blunt tool used for mixing or applying paint, with a flexible steel blade. It is primarily used for mixing paint colors, paste, etc., or for marbling, decorative endpapers, etc. The "palette" in the name is a reference to an artist's palette which is used for mixing oil paint and acrylic paints.
Art knives come primarily in two types:
- palette knife resembling a putty knife with a rounded tip, suited for mixing paints on the palette;
- painting knife with a pointed tip, lowered or "cranked" like a trowel, suited for painting on canvas.
While palette knives are manufactured without sharpened cutting edges, with prolonged use they may become "sharpened" by the action of abrasive pigments such as earth colors.
Palette knives are also used in cooking, where their flexibility allows them to easily slide underneath pastries or other items. See frosting spatula.
Usage examples of "palette knife".
Using an oiled palette knife add the green food colouring to one half (this is a good time not to add any arsenic), turning it well to distribute the colour evenly.
She seized a large palette knife that lay with the artist's tools upon the table, and springing to her portrait, hacked and mutilated the canvas.
Toyed with a palette knife as if he might turn upon her and use it.
With a guilty look over her shoulder, she shoved the camera back into the purse and pulled out her glasses, a plastic bag, and a small palette knife.
He worked in a fair frenzy for two hours, making demands of the paint he'd never made before, plastering it on with palette knife and fingers, attempting to capture at least the shape and proportion of the thing's head and neck.