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View synonyms for knuckle

knuckle

[ nuhk-uhl ]

noun

  1. a joint of a finger, especially one of the articulations of a metacarpal with a phalanx.
  2. the rounded prominence of such a joint when the finger is bent.
  3. a joint of meat, consisting of the parts about the carpal or tarsal joint of a quadruped.
  4. an angle or protrusion at the intersection of two members or surfaces, as in the timbers of a ship or in a roof.
  5. a cylindrical projecting part on a hinge, through which an axis or pin passes; the joint of a hinge.
  6. (in a wire mesh) a bend in a wire crossing another wire.
  7. (on a chair arm) one of the ridges left at the front end by longitudinal flutes carved to accommodate the fingers.
  8. Nautical. a pronounced edge formed by a change in the form of the shell of a hull.


verb (used with object)

, knuck·led, knuck·ling.
  1. to rub or press with the knuckles.
  2. Marbles. to shoot (a marble) from the thumb and forefinger.

verb phrase

    1. to apply oneself vigorously and earnestly; become serious:

      Just knuckle down for an hour or so and finish the work.

    2. Also knuckle under. to submit; yield.

knuckle

/ ˈnʌkəl /

noun

  1. a joint of a finger, esp that connecting a finger to the hand
  2. a joint of veal, pork, etc, consisting of the part of the leg below the knee joint, often used in making stews or stock
  3. the cylindrical portion of a hinge through which the pin passes
  4. an angle joint between two members of a structure
  5. near the knuckle informal.
    near the knuckle approaching indecency


verb

  1. tr to rub or press with the knuckles
  2. intr to keep the knuckles on the ground while shooting a marble

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Derived Forms

  • ˈknuckly, adjective

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Other Words From

  • knuckly adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of knuckle1

1325–75; Middle English knokel (akin to Dutch kneukel, German Knöchel ), diminutive of a word represented by Dutch knok, German Knochen bone; -le

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Word History and Origins

Origin of knuckle1

C14: related to Middle High German knöchel, Middle Low German knoke bone, Dutch knok

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Idioms and Phrases

  • rap someone's knuckles

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Example Sentences

Use your tape and measure the width of your hand at your knuckles.

He also did not turn himself into law enforcement, she said, and instead was found at his sister’s home in Macon, 75 miles from home, with brass knuckles, multiple guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

As a variant, keep your eyes looking forward and glide your knuckles down toward your shoulder in a straight line.

Glide your knuckles down slowly, applying constant pressure.

I’ve knocked on wood so many times since March that my knuckles are covered in callouses.

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, my third book, changed my life and put me on bare-knuckle terms with my abilities.

If you think of yourself as more than a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal, you can stand up and be respectful.

How could it be that this word, and not “what” or “why,” has caused a bare-knuckle brawl at such a stratospheric social level?

I like the term knuckle dragger, but I don't want to cast any undeserved slurs at Neanderthals.

In Silicon Valley it's a war for talent—an all-out knuckle-drag war.

He had their undivided attention in a moment, without the rapping of Miss Carringtons hard knuckle on the table top.

Bobby said that that knuckle of Gee Gees middle finger had been abnormally developed by continued bringing the class to order.

By chance he heard us warned for guard, and at once went to his tent and returned with a ham knuckle.

Three were used at a time, thrown from the fritillus, as were the knuckle-bones (Fig. 132), but the sides counted that came up.

If this rounding is carried to excess we get the Knuckle thread shown at (d).

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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