Boning knives are designed to clean meat from bones, and are useful for people who do not like cooking with the bone in the meat. This style of knife is usually made with a narrow blade. Some are geared toward working with beef or pork and are made with a stiff blade. Others are meant more for fish and poultry and have a more flexible blade. The blade can be curved to aid in longer strokes, allowing you to use more of the blade easily.

Skinning knives are made to remove the skin from the meat. Since neither pork nor beef traditionally come with skin on, these are mostly designed for poultry or fish. Some hunting knives are meant to skin game. Cutlery designed for skinning tends to have the somewhat flexible blade to help it curve with the meat.

Fish knives are meant to clean and separate fish. They are made with a somewhat flexible blade to aide in separating and skinning the fish. Some fish knives are meant to clean the scales from the fish, some to chop the fish into smaller pieces, and some to clean the fish.

Cleavers are meant to go through meat and bone. They tend to be heavier and rely on weight rather than a razor edge to cut through. Most meat cleavers are wide and made of a hard metal with a duller edge then most cutleries.

Butcher knives are made as general purpose knives. They are used for everything from slicing meat to chopping vegetables. Designed with a sturdy blade, and a generally rounded tip, butcher knives are some of the most versatile knives in any kitchen.

Bread knives are made mostly inflexible and wide. The most prominent feature of a bread knife is probably the serrated edge. When cutting bread it is important to use a sawing motion, instead of pressing down on the knife, to avoid crushing the bread. This is where a sharp serrated blade is very useful, and is the reason to make sure your cutlery is sharp.

Cheese knives are generally designed with grooves in the blades to allow air between the blade and the cheese. Allowing air to get between the knife and cheese helps prevent the cheese sticking to the knife. These are generally made with strong and inflexible blades.