knuckle
/ˈnʌkəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.22 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any of the joints between the bones of the fingers.
noun
A mechanical joint.
noun
The curved part of the cushion at the entrance to the pockets on a cue sports table.
noun
The kneejoint of a quadruped, especially of a calf; formerly, the kneejoint of a human being.
noun
A cut of meat of various kinds.
Example Sentences
- "With wearie knockles on thy brim she kneeled sadly downe"
- "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."
- "In the West Indies there are found, even in sandy deserts and very dry places, large canes, which at every joint or knuckle yield a good supply of fresh water"
- "brass knuckles"
- "He knuckled the sleep from his eyes."
- "She knuckled her eyes in disbelief."
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Medicine.