noun
Meaning 1
Any of the joints between the bones of the fingers.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
knuckle
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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nŭkˈ-əl
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/ˈnʌkəl/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ʌkəl
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CMU ARPABET: N AH1 K AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
A mechanical joint.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
The curved part of the cushion at the entrance to the pockets on a cue sports table.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: ball-games, billiards, games, hobbies, lifestyle, pool, snooker, sports
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
The kneejoint of a quadruped, especially of a calf; formerly, the kneejoint of a human being.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
A cut of meat of various kinds.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- Beef knuckle is from the knee joint. Pork knuckle, or ham hock, is from the joint between the tibia/fibula and the metatarsals of the foot of a pig, where the foot was attached to the leg.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
The joint of a plant.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
A convex portion of a vessel's figure where a sudden change of shape occurs, as in a canal boat, where a nearly vertical side joins a nearly flat bottom.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: business, manufacturing, shipbuilding
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 8
A contrivance, usually of brass or iron, and furnished with points, worn to protect the hand, to add force to a blow, and to disfigure the person struck; a knuckle duster.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- brass knuckles
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 9
The rounded point where a flat changes to a slope on a piste.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: hobbies, lifestyle, skiing, snowboarding, sports
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 10
To apply pressure, or rub or massage with one's knuckles (noun sense 1).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- He knuckled the sleep from his eyes.
- She knuckled her eyes in disbelief.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 11
To strike or punch.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: slang, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 12
To bend the fingers.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 13
To touch one's forehead as a mark of respect.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 14
To yield.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively, intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: knuckle under
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 15
To land on the knuckle (noun sense 9) of a curve of a slope, after a jump off a ramp that precedes the slope.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: hobbies, lifestyle, skiing, snowboarding, sports
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 16
a joint of a finger when the fist is closed
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: knuckle joint, metacarpophalangeal joint
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: synovial joint, articulatio synovialis, diarthrosis
verb
Meaning 17
shoot a marble while keeping one's knuckles on the ground
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: shoot
verb
Meaning 18
press or rub with the knuckles
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: press
History
Etymology
From Middle English knokel (“finger joint”), from Old English cnucel (“the juncture of two bones; knuckle; joint”), from Proto-West Germanic *knukil, from Proto-Germanic *knukilaz (“knuckle, knot, bump”), as *knukô (“bone, joint”) + *-ilaz (diminutive suffix). Cognate with Dutch knokkel (“knuckle”), Low German Knökel (“knuckle”), German Knöchel (“ankle, knuckle”), Old Norse knykill. More at knock.
Across languages
Translations
88 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Afrikaans: kneukel — joint of the finger
- Arabic: بُرْجُمَة (burjuma) — joint of the finger
- Arabic: مَفْصِل (mafṣil) — joint of the finger
- Arabic: أَشْجَع (ʔašjaʕ) — joint of the finger
- Arabic: عقلة (ʕuqla) — joint of the finger
- Bulgarian: става на пръст (stava na prǎst) — joint of the finger
- Catalan: artell — joint of the finger
- Catalan: nus — joint of the finger
- Chinese Cantonese: 指關節 /指关节 (zi2 gwaan1 zit3) — joint of the finger
- Chinese Mandarin: 指關節 /指关节 (zhǐguānjié) — joint of the finger
- Czech: kloub prstu — joint of the finger
- Danish: kno — joint of the finger
- Dutch: knokkel — joint of the finger
- Esperanto: artiko — joint of the finger
- Estonian: nukk — joint of the finger
- Finnish: rysty — joint of the finger
- Finnish: rystynen — joint of the finger
- French: articulation du doigt — joint of the finger
- French: articulation — joint of the finger
- French: jointure du doigt — joint of the finger
- West-Frisian: knokkel — joint of the finger
- Galician: cotobelo — joint of the finger
- Galician: cotomelo — joint of the finger
- Galician: coteno — joint of the finger
- Galician: nocello — joint of the finger
- Galician: nortello — joint of the finger
- Galician: artello — joint of the finger
- Galician: noelo — joint of the finger
- Georgian: თითის სახსარი (titis saxsari) — joint of the finger
- German: Fingerknöchel — joint of the finger
- Middle High German: knöchel — joint of the finger
- Ancient Greek: κόνδυλος (kóndulos) — joint of the finger
- Greenlandic: saaneq — joint of the finger
- Hebrew: מפרק האצבע (mifrák ha'étsba) — joint of the finger
- Hungarian: ujjízület — joint of the finger
- Hungarian: ujjbütyök — joint of the finger
- Hungarian: bütyök — joint of the finger
- Icelandic: kjúka — joint of the finger
- Icelandic: hnúi — joint of the finger
- Ingrian: rysty — joint of the finger
- Ingrian: ryssys — joint of the finger
- Irish: alt — joint of the finger
- Italian: nocca — joint of the finger
- Italian: giuntura — joint of the finger
- Japanese: 指関節 (yubikansetsu) — joint of the finger
- Khmer: ក្រញរ (krɑɑñɑɑ) — joint of the finger
- Khmer: ថ្នាំងដៃ (thnangday) — joint of the finger
- Korean: 손가락 관절 (son'garak gwanjeol) — joint of the finger
- Korean: 손가락 마디 (son'garak madi) — joint of the finger
- Latgalian: piersta lūcaveica — joint of the finger
- Latin: articulus digiti — joint of the finger
- Latvian: pirksta locītava — joint of the finger
- Lombardic: knohha — joint of the finger
- Macedonian: глужд (glužd) — joint of the finger
- Malay: buku — joint of the finger
- Māori: monamona — joint of the finger
- Māori: pona — joint of the finger
- Middle English: knokel — joint of the finger
- Norwegian: knoke — joint of the finger
- Old English: cnucel — joint of the finger
- Oromo: buusaa — joint of the finger
- Persian: مفصل (mafsal) — joint of the finger
- Persian: بند انگشت (band-e angošt) — joint of the finger
- Polish: kłykieć — joint of the finger
- Portuguese: nó — joint of the finger
- Portuguese: junta dos dedos — joint of the finger
- Russian: суста́в па́льца (sustáv pálʹca) — joint of the finger
- Scottish Gaelic: rùdan — joint of the finger
- Serbo-Croatian: zglob — joint of the finger
- Spanish: nudillo — joint of the finger
- Spanish: ñudillo — joint of the finger
- Spanish: artejo — joint of the finger
- Swedish: knoge — joint of the finger
- Tagalog: buko — joint of the finger
- Thai: ข้อนิ้ว (kɔ̂ɔ-níu) — joint of the finger
- Tibetan: མཛུབ་མོའི་ཚིགས (mdzub mo'i tshigs) — joint of the finger
- Tibetan: སོར་མོའི་ཚིགས (sor mo'i tshigs) — joint of the finger
- Ottoman Turkish: بوغوم (boğum) — joint of the finger
- Vietnamese: khớp — joint of the finger
- Welsh: migwrn — joint of the finger
- Yiddish: קנעכל (knekhl) — joint of the finger
- Zhuang: lwggyag — joint of the finger
- Bulgarian: шарнир (šarnir) — a mechanical joint
- Hungarian: csukló — a mechanical joint
- Polish: przegub — a mechanical joint
- Hungarian: csülök — a cut of meat
- Hungarian: sertéscsülök — a cut of meat
- Hungarian: lábszárhús — a cut of meat