knuckle Hear it!

knuckle Definition

knuckle (nuk′əl)

noun

    1. a joint of the finger; esp., the joint connecting a finger to the rest of the hand
    2. the rounded knob formed by the bones at such a joint
  2. the knee or hock joint and nearby parts of a pig or other animal, used as food
  3. something resembling a knuckle, as any of the projecting, cylindrical parts through which a pin is passed to form a hinge
  4. ☆ brass knuckles
  5. Archit. the central joint in a gambrel or curb roof

Etymology: ME knokyl < or akin to MDu & MLowG knokel, dim. of knoke, bone < IE *gneuĝ-: for IE base see knot

transitive verb knuckled -·led, knuckling -·ling

to strike, press, or touch with the knuckles
knuckle Idioms

knuckle down

☆
  1. to rest the knuckles on the ground in shooting a marble
  2. to work energetically or seriously

knuckle under

to yield; give in
knuckle Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • rap: Obstacles: Players in a round must hold their breath while rapping knuckles, and the first player to breathe is out.
  • have: At the third fire both gentlemen were wounded slightly, and I had a knuckle chipped.
  • graze: Only then did I notice the grazed knuckles on Teal'c's right hand.
  • bruise: No games of hide and seek, no dirty hands and no bruised knuckles.

Adjective modifier

  • bare: Without them, armies would fight naked with bare knuckles.
  • white: They left slippery trails under her white knuckles, which grasped the drink in front of her.
  • first: Note that the finger flexes from the first knuckle ( MCP joint ) and extends at the middle one ( PIP joint ).
  • skinned: That way you will avoid most episodes of skinned knuckles.
  • middle: There's a bad safety from McCulloch, caught the middle pocket knuckle.
  • White: White knuckle ride out of Gatwick, bad weather, plain bad landing at Sharm!

Modifies a noun

  • duster: In 1969 in The New Ely someone showed me a set of knuckle dusters.
  • ride: A white knuckle ride you will remember for the rest of your life!
  • joint: The ' knuckle joint ' being about '6 o'clock ' ) ( Figure 5b.
  • passenger: Your course finishes with a white knuckle passenger ride with your instructor, showing you how to take these vehicles to their limits!
  • bone: Traditional game of 5 stones, jacks or knuckle bones.
  • fight: Jensen's favorite set piece from the X-Men is the opening fight scene involving Logan in a bare knuckle fight.

Noun used with modifier

  • pork: It takes a bit of searching to find the main ingredient -- a pork knuckle from the fore-end of a pig.
  • brass: The ninja of Japan wore these brass knuckles, which were made of a metal plate adorned with four spikes extending from the palm.

Preposition: of

  • hand: The dominant hand is held palm up holding the other hand, also palm up, so that the knuckles of both hands overlap.

Preposition: with

  • ruler: Does it whack you across the knuckles with a ruler?