See Also: Knee(medicine)
Knee(health)
knee cap(dictionary)
knee(1)(dictionary)
knee(2)(dictionary)
veins of knee(medicine)
thick-knee(medicine)
locked knee(medicine)
knock-knee(medicine)
knee-deep(medicine)

knee(1) (iou)



knee noun. [ni:]
[Old English cneo(w) = Old Frisian kniu, kne, kni, Old Saxon knio (Dutch knie), Old High German kneo, kniu (German Knie), Old Norse kne, Gothic kniu, from Germanic from Indo-European, from base also of Latin genu, Greek gonu.]
I. A joint.
The joint between a person's thigh and lower leg; the region around this joint. Also, the upper surface of the thighs of a sitting person, the lap. OE.
M. Drabble He organised himself into a sitting position, his arms around his knees. A. Brookner Those rules that girls are supposed to learn at their mother's knee. M. Ignatieff In the garden, holding Lionel on her knee. J. Ford Humbly on my knees I kiss your gracious hand. H. Brooke My knees trembled..; a swimming came before my eyes.
b. A damaged condition of the knee. (Earliest in housemaid's knee s.v. HOUSEMAID.) M19.
A joint in an animal limb corresponding or analogous to the human knee; spec. (a) the carpal articulation of the foreleg of a quadruped; (b) the tarsal articulation or heel of a bird. LME.
The part of a garment covering the knee. LME.
II. Something resembling the knee.
A piece of timber with a natural or artificial angular bend, spec. one used as a support in carpentry and shipbuilding; a piece of metal of similar shape and use. LME.
A part of a hill, tree, etc., regarded as corresponding to a human knee. Also (rare), a natural prominence, as a rock or crag. L16.
Botany.
a. The node of a grass. Now dial. L17.
b. A conical protuberance on the roots of the bald cypress and tupelo, rising above the water in which the tree grows. L19.
An abrupt obtuse or approximately right-angled bend in a graph between parts where the slope varies smoothly. L19.
Phrases: across one's knee (of a person, esp. a child) face-down on or on to the knee to be spanked. bend the knee, bow the knee kneel, esp. in submission. bring a person to his or her knees bring a person to a difficult position or to submission. housemaid's knee: see HOUSEMAID noun. knee by knee side by side and close together. knee to knee (a) = knee by knee above; (b) facing each other with the knees touching. on bended knee(s): see BEND verb. on the knees of the gods: see GOD noun. the bee's knees: see BEE noun1. water on the knee: see WATER noun.
Comb.: knee-action (a) the action or coordination of movement of the knee-joint of a horse; (b) exaggerated raising of the knee by an athlete; (c) a form of independent front-wheel suspension in a motor vehicle; knee-bend noun & verb (a) noun an act of bending the (human) knee; spec. a physical exercise in which the body is raised and lowered without use of the hands; (b) verb intrans. perform a knee-bend or knee-bends; knee-board noun & verb (a) noun a short surfboard ridden in a kneeling position; (b) verb intrans. ride a knee-board; knee-bone the patella, the kneecap; knee-boot: reaching to the knee; knee-boss Hist. a piece of armour used to protect the knee, consisting of a cap of leather etc.; knee-brace a strut fixed diagonally as reinforcement between two parts of a structure that meet at right angles; knee-braced adjective supported by a knee-brace; knee-breeched adjective wearing knee-breeches; knee-breeches: reaching down to or just below the knee; knee-deep adjective (a) immersed in to the knee, fig. deeply involved in; (b) (covered with water etc.) so deep as to reach to the knee; knee-halter verb trans. (chiefly S. Afr.) restrain (an animal, esp. a horse) by fastening a cord or halter from its head to its knees; knee-high adjective immersed in or reaching as high as the knees (knee-high to a GRASSHOPPER); knee-hole a space for the knees between the drawers of a desk etc.; a desk having a knee-hole; knee-holly, knee-holm butcher's broom, Ruscus aculeatus; knee-jerk noun & adjective (a) noun a sudden involuntary kick caused by a blow on the tendon just below the knee and used as a test of reflexes; (b) adjective predictable, automatic, stereotyped; knee-joint (a) the joint between the femur and the tibia in the leg; (b) Mechanics a joint formed of two pieces hinged together endwise, a toggle joint; knee-length adjective reaching to the knee; knee-pan = KNEECAP noun 2; knee-piece (a) a bent piece of timber used as a support in carpentry and shipbuilding; (b) Hist. a flexible piece of armour used to protect the knee; knee-plate (a) Hist. a broad steel plate worn as a protection for the thigh; (b) an angled metal plate used as a support in shipbuilding; knee-rafter a rafter the lower end of which is bent downwards; a diagonal brace between a rafter and a tie-beam; knee-roof = curb roof s.v. CURB noun; knee-slapper N. Amer. an uproariously funny joke; knee-strings: worn round the knee at the bottom of knee-breeches; knees-up colloq. [from 'Knees up, Mother Brown', a popular song by H. Weston, B. Lee, and I. Taylor] a lively party or gathering, a celebration; knee-timber timber having a natural angular bend, suitable for use as a support in shipbuilding or carpentry; knee-trembler slang an act of sexual intercourse between people in a standing position.
kneelike adjective resembling a knee (in shape or function) L19.