Bark is the abrupt, harsh, explosive cry of a dog.
Clatter is the sound made by two or more hard objects hitting each other.
Splash is the sound of something falling into a liquid, normally water.
What is the name of the sound made by a knife? And more in particular, is there a different name for the sound of a knife slashing through the air and the sound made by a knife hitting flesh?
Additional example:
Blindfolded, I could only hear noises: the distant barking of a dog, the shouting of a terrified man, the [word] of a knife being waved into the air.
Best Answer
There can't be a single word to describe so many different noises, or if there was such a word it wouldn't be very useful.
I suggest the swish of a knife through the air. Hitting a metal object (parried by another blade, or hitting armour or a shield) would be better served by clang. If a knife struck a living body, the dominant noise would be the cry of pain; chopping at a dead body would be more of a thud or thwack (correct me if I'm wrong, I haven't tried this personally but it's just meat).
Also I wouldn't say "waved into the air"; "waved through the air" or just about "in the air" would be better. "Into" would go more with "thrown" but then you wouldn't want to be there when it landed.