kneecap
/ˈniːˌkæp/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.50 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A cap or strong covering for the knees, used chiefly for horses, to protect their knees in case of a fall.
verb
To destroy the knees of (a person), usually by shooting at the knees, as a punishment carried out by criminals or terrorists.
Transitive verb
verb
To attack (someone) in a way that is excessively and needlessly damaging: to cut (someone) off at the knees.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "The Sinn Féin press officer Richard McAuley freely admitted, “Back four or five years ago, people were getting kneecapped who should not have been kneecapped.”"
- "This story of how American originality lost its way is arresting and well told. On an alternate timeline without Donald Trump in office dismantling the American scientific establishment and Elon Musk kneecapping the American state, it might have been the manifesto of a new politics."