▪ I. knuckle, n.
(ˈnʌk(ə)l)
Forms: 4 knokel, 5 -il, -yl(le, 6 -ulle, knoc(c)le, knockel, nuckul, 6–7 (9 dial.) knockle, 7 knucle, 8 nuckle; 6– knuckle.
[ME. knokel = OFris. knok(e)le, MDu. knökel (Du. kneukel), MLG. knokel (LG. knukkel), MHG. knuchel, knüchel (G. knöchel); app. dim. of a word for ‘bone’ which appears as MLG. knoke (Du. knook, knok), MHG. knoche (G. knochen).]
† 1. The end of a bone at a joint, which forms a more or less rounded protuberance when the joint is bent, as in the knee, elbow, and vertebral joints. Obs.
| c 1375 Rel. Ant. I. 190 Bynethe the knokelys of the fete Wyth two weynis thow myȝt mete. c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 636/10 Hic nodus, knokylle. 1565 Golding Ovid's Met. i. (1593) 24 With wearie knockles on thy brim she kneeled sadly downe. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 42 The backebone..consisteth of manie bones,..which are called the knuckles or turning ioyntes of the backebone. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 359 His [a lion's] neck very stiffe, because it consisteth but of one bone without joynts,..There are no knuckles or turning joynts in it called Spondyli, and therefore he cannot look backward. 1658 A. Fox Wurtz' Surg. ii. xxv. 152 Sometimes the Elbows-Knockle is broken. |
2. spec. The bone at a finger-joint, which forms a rounded protuberance when the hand is shut;
esp. applied to those at the roots of the fingers. (Sometimes in
sing. for collective plural.)
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 280/1 Knokyl of an honde.., condilus. 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 25 b, In euery fynger be .iii. ioyntes, and as many knokulles: saue in the thome, that hath but ij. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Condyle, the roundenesse or knots in the knee, anckle, elbow, and knuckles. 1658 A. Fox Wurtz' Surg. ii. xxv. 153 A Fracture near the Knockles is worse than that in the middle. 1753 Hogarth Anal. Beauty x. 65 The dimples of the nuckles. 1792 Cowper Lett. 11 June, Adieu! My knuckles ache with letter writing. 1867 A. Dawson Rambl. Recoll. (1868) 4 He switched their shoulders and knuckles with his cane. 1884 Pae Eustace 96 The leader and spokesman of the party gave a low but distinct tap with his hard knuckle. |
b. Hence several colloquial phrases.
near the knuckle: near the permitted limit (
esp. in regard to decency);
to go the knuckle (
Austral. slang), to punch, to fight.
| 1579 J. Stubbes Gaping Gulf C iij b, Assuring ourselues that if they went up to the knocles in french blood, they wyll vp to the elboes in English blood. 1759 Dilworth Pope 78 Some who did not absolutely deserve that appellation, he has rapped over the knuckles. 1790 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Adv. Fut. Laureat i. 79 He sighs—upon his knuckles he is down. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas v. ii. ¶3 The boiling courage of knighthood, pledged up to the knuckles or the chin on the behalf of female innocence. 1812 Sporting Mag. XL. 161 The father-in-law had everything arranged to his own knuckle. 1866 Geo. Eliot F. Holt ii, When he's had plenty of English exercise, and brought out his knuckle a bit, he'll be a Lingon again as he used to be. 1895 W. P. Ridge Minor Dialogues vii. 72, I can stand a joke as well as anyone, but whispering's a bit too near the knuckle. If you've got anything to say, say it. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 390 A severe rap on my moral knuckles from my conscience. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 4 May 2/2 A series of articles entitled ‘Crimes of Passion’, full of abominable details ‘as near the knuckle’ as the police would allow. Ibid. 6 Sept. 1/3 If a play shows that its author has..a sincere respect for his art, it must be stopped if it goes at all ‘near the knuckle’. 1930 W. S. Maugham Cakes & Ale 147 What I like about 'er is that she gives you a good laugh. She goes pretty near the knuckle sometimes, but she never jumps over the fence. 1944 J. Devanny By Tropic Sea & Jungle xviii. 160, I always got on well with the blacks, because I never went the knuckle on them, and never interfered with their women. 1945 L. A. G. Strong Othello's Occupation iv. 89 Did you notice how she stiffened, when I slipped in that bit about remembering what she was looking at—what was on the table? I got a bit near the knuckle there. 1962 S. Gore Down Golden Mile i. 26 Then he said: ‘Want to watch out for them quiet snoozers. Sometimes they can go the knuckle a bit themselves!’ 1973 D. Jordan Nile Green xiii. 58 He ho-ho'd jovially to show he was joking. It was a little close to the knuckle for my taste. |
† c. = pickpocket n. i.
Cf. knuck 1.
Obs.| 1781 G. Parker View of Soc. II. i. 73 Knuckle, in the flash language, signifies those who hang about the Lobbies of both Houses of Parliament, the Opera-House and both Play-Houses, and in general wherever a great crowd assemble. They steal watches, snuff-boxes, &c. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Knuckles, pickpockets who attend the avenues to public places, to steal pocket books, watches, &c., a superior kind of pickpockets. 1846 Swell's Night Guide 124/1 Knuckles, pickpockets. |
3. The projection of the carpal or tarsal joint of a quadruped; hence, a ‘joint’ of meat,
esp. veal or ham, consisting of the knuckle joint with the parts immediately above and below it. In a leg of mutton, the rounded muscular part adjacent to the knuckle joint of the animal.
| 1625 Massinger New Way ii. ii, 'Tis the quintessence Of five cocks of the game,..Knuckles of veal, potato-roots, and marrow. 1626 Bacon Sylva §45 Jelly..which they use for a restorative, is chiefly made of knuckles of veal. 1726 Gay in Swift's Lett. (1766) II. 65 Take a knuckle of veal..In a few pieces cut it: In a stewing-pan put it. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 5 June, One wit, like a knuckle of ham in soup, gives a zest and flavour to the dish. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xxvi, The tea-things, including..a cold knuckle of ham. |
4. Something shaped or protruding like a knuckle of a bone.
spec. † a. A thickened joint of a plant, a node.
b. Anat. A projecting bend of the intestine.
c. Mech. The projecting tubular part of a hinge through which the pintle runs.
d. Ship-building. An acute angle in certain timbers.
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 255 The swellings or blind piles appearing like bigs or knuckles within the fundement, are cured with five-leafe grasse. 1611 Cotgr., Les nerfs, the knuckles that sticke out on the backe of a booke. 1626 Bacon Sylva §589 Divers Herbs..have Joynts or Knuckles..As have..Pinks,..Corn,..and Canes. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 591 The knuckle of the hinge is a portion contained under a cylindrical surface, and is common both to the moving part and the part which is at rest. 1835–6 Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 503 note, A knuckle of the intestine. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 128 Knuckle, a sudden angle made on some timbers by a quick reverse of shape, such as the knuckle of the counter timbers, &c. 1894 Crockett Raiders 230, I..sat on a solid knuckle of rock that shot up from the ribs of the mountain. 1897 Clin. Soc. Trans. IX. 108 A knuckle of bowel having been exposed by incision. |
5. = knuckle-duster (see
quot. 1861
s.v.).
6. attrib. and
Comb., as
knuckle-hinge,
knuckle-length,
knuckle-rap,
knuckle-summons,
knuckle-work;
knuckle-rapper,
knuckle-rapping vbl. n. and
ppl. adj.;
knuckle ball,
knuckleball Baseball (see
quots.);
knuckle-bow,
-guard, a guard on a sword-hilt to cover the knuckles;
knuckle-end, the lower or small end of a leg of mutton or pork;
knuckle-head, a slow-witted or stupid person;
knuckle-kneed a., having prominent or bulging knees;
knuckle sandwich slang, a punch in the mouth;
knuckle-thread, a rounded thread in a screw;
knuckle timber, a timber having or forming a knuckle (see 4 c.).
| 1927 Secrets of Baseball iii. 37 If you're worrying about when to use a ‘*knuckle ball’. 1929 Encycl. Brit. III. 163/1 There is what is known as the knuckle ball, in which the knuckles of the pitcher's hand play a prominent part in giving the ball erratic motion. 1970 New Yorker 24 Oct. 39/2 The knuckleball is thrown not with the knuckles but with the fingertips. 1972 N.Y. Times 4 June v. 2/5 Phil Niekro baffled the Mets with his celebrated knuckleball, allowing them only three hits. 1975 Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer 6 Apr. 13–C/3 Oakland, aiming for a fourth straight world championship, opens at home with Vida Blue pitching against Chicago's veteran knuckleball specialist, Wilbur Wood. |
| 1895 Proc. Soc. Antiq. 7 Feb. 297 There is a *knucklebow with an extra guard attached by a ring. |
| a 1845 Syd. Smith in Mem., Scotland, that garret of the earth—that *knuckle⁓end of England. 1883 ‘Annie Thomas’ Mod. Housewife 48 A good leg of Welsh mutton..its knuckle-end makes a pretty little extra dish braised and stewed brown with celery and haricot beans. |
| 1944 in Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang (1960) 310/2 You *knuckle-heads. 1948 Amer. Speech XXIII. 249/1 Knucklehead, a slow or stupid person. 1971 R. Parkes Line of Fire xvii. 158 What I'm trying to get across to you knuckleheads is that it was not murder! 1973 J. Cleary Ransom i. 25 He's a knuckle-head, he knows nothing and doesn't want to know. |
| 1866 G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. v. (1878) 54 They [the horses] were so fat and *knuckle-kneed. |
| 1906 Daily Chron. 29 Mar. 6/4 A man..proceeded to measure it with the *knuckle-length of his closed fist. 1938 Times 9 Mar. 19/4 The knuckle-length coat is in stripes of various sizes. |
| 1837 Wheelwright tr. Aristophanes II. 176 With *knuckle-raps, we will put out the lamps. |
| 1910 H. G. Wells Hist. Mr. Polly iv. 56 The aunt..was..a *knuckle-rapper and sharp silencer: no friend for a slovenly little boy. |
| 1944 R. Lehmann Ballad & Source 243 ‘No,’ he said shortly, but not in the *knuckle-rapping way I had half feared. 1968 Globe & Mail Mag. (Toronto) 13 Jan. 3/1 Anti-Dow demonstrations at U of T drew just polite knuckle-rapping. 1968 Listener 18 July 75/1 Did you ever suggest to him..how a field commander might feel when he got one of these knuckle-rappings? 1974 Farm & Country 26 Mar. 4/2 Your knuckle-rapping will teach him to think before he is carried away on a flow of words. |
| 1973 A. Buzo Norm & Ahmed 12 He tried to hang one on me at Leichhardt Oval once, so I administered a *knuckle sandwich to him. 1973 Ottawa Jrnl. 17 July 23/3 Give the guy a knuckle sandwich and let the teeth fall where they may. |
| 1864 Browning Mr. Sludge 720 Suppose I blunder in my guess at the true sense O' the *knuckle-summons, nine times out of ten. |
| 1887 D. A. Low Machine Draw. (1892) 15 The angles of the square thread are frequently rounded... If this rounding is carried to excess we get the *Knuckle thread shown at (d). |
| 1711 W. Sutherland Shipbuild. Assist. 54 The Planks under the *Nuckle Timbers forward. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 128 Knuckle-timbers, those top⁓timbers in the fore body whose heads stand perpendicular, and form an angle with the hollow of the topside. |
| 1885 T. Mozley Remin. Towns, etc. I. 298 All the communications between the postal officials and the public were done through an aperture fifteen inches by twelve,..to be opened after some *knuckle-work. |
▪ II. knuckle, v. (
ˈnʌk(ə)l)
[f. prec. n.] 1. intr. To place one's knuckles upon the ground in shooting or casting the taw in playing at marbles; see sense 4. Usually
knuckle down.
| 1740 Dyche & Pardon, Knuckle or Knuckle down (v.)..is a particular phrase used by lads at a play called taw, wherein they frequently say, Knuckle down to your taw, or fit your hand exactly in the place where your marble lies. 1784 Cowper Tiroc. 307 As happy as we once, to kneel and draw The chalky ring, and knuckle down at taw. 1842 Tennyson Will Waterproof xvii, A something-pottle-bodied boy, That knuckled at the taw. |
2. a. intr. (
fig.) To acknowledge oneself beaten; to give way, give in, submit. Usually
knuckle down or
knuckle under.
| 1740 Dyche & Pardon, Knuckle or Knuckle down, to stoop, bend, yield, comply with, or submit to. 1791 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Remonstrance 73, I knuckle not—I owe not to the great A thimble-full of obligation. 1871 Carlyle in Mrs. C's Lett. II. 237 He had to knuckle and comply in all points. 1882 M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal II. iv. 63 They must all knuckle under to him. 1888 Times (weekly ed.) 2 Nov. 12/3 He would not knuckle down under the attacks of the Land League. 1955 Times 19 May 15/4 He replied that there was no power on earth to make a local party accept a candidate. He was rather sorry they knuckled under to Transport House in this division. 1964 Ann. Reg. 1963 10 Britain, he said, had ‘knuckled under’ to threats of African violence, but there was little he could constitutionally do about it. 1973 Nation Rev. (Melbourne) III. 31 Aug. 1444/1 Now the last group of any size..has knuckled under following a series of splits and coups. |
b. to knuckle down to, to apply oneself earnestly or vigorously (Webster 1864).
3. a. trans. To tap, strike, press, or rub with the knuckles.
| a 1793 J. Pearson Polit. Dict. 49 Little Shiells, who is a mercenary dog, knuckles them [reporters] just as he pleases. c 1825 Beddoes Poems, Life a Glass Window, Uncourteous Death Knuckles the pane. 1842 H. Smith Addr. Mummy vi, I need not ask thee if that hand, when arm'd, Has any Roman soldier maul'd and knuckled. 1890 Clark Russell Ocean Trag. I. xii. 251 The seaman knuckled his forehead and wheeled round. |
b. To dig (one's hand) into a specified position, knuckles first.
| 1890 Hall Caine Bondman I. i. 10 Thrusting his head beneath his chin, he knuckled his left hand under the islander's rib. |
4. trans. To propel or shoot (a marble, etc.) from between the knuckle of the thumb and the bent forefinger.
| 1803 W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. I. 354 Flying kites, knuckling marbles, chuck-halfpenny, etc. 1897 Crockett Lads' Love x. 90 ‘Go on’, she said, knuckling little stones at a puddock. |
5. intr. To protrude or project like a knuckle.
| c 1862 in Circ. Sc. I. 272/2 There is no danger of the conductor knuckling through the gutta-percha. |
6. Farriery. With
over, of the knee or fetlock: ? to project through weakness of the ligaments. Also with
forwards. (
Cf. knuckle-kneed adj. s.v. knuckle n. 6.)
| 1877 A. Sewell Black Beauty (c 1878, ed. 5) xl. 198 The knees knuckled over, and the forelegs were very unsteady. 1877 M. H. Hayes Vet. Notes for Horse Owners i. 30 ‘Knuckling over’, as a result of hard work, appears to be due to relaxation of the capsular and lateral ligaments [of the fetlock joint]. 1906 J. W. Axe Horse IV. 53 The animal knuckles over at the joints. 1907 Ibid. V. 298 The movements of the hind-limbs are for a time weak, and the fetlocks knuckle over now and again during progression. 1907 Ibid. VI. 347 In young horses it is common to meet with a knuckling forwards of the hind fetlocks. |
7. Golf. To bend (the knee) inward. Also
absol.| 1909 Times 23 Apr. 16/2 An elaborate knuckling of the right knee in putting. Ibid., The ‘knuckling’ habit in putting has long been exposed as fallacious. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 11 May 12/3 You may ‘knuckle’ if knuckling conduces to comfort, provided that..you get the process over before beginning the actual stroke. |
Hence
knuckle-down as
n.: (
a) a game at marbles (see
prec. 1 and 4); (
b) submission; as
adv. = submissively.
| 1859 Ruskin Two Paths iv. (1891) 178 How that vagabond child at the street corner is managing his game of knuckle⁓down. 1878 E. Jenkins Haverholme 215 Our people are bent on nothing but a complete knuckle-down. 1880 Blackmore Mary Anerley III. 184 Long sighs only lead to turn-up noses. He plays too knuckle-down at it. |