knee

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   joint between the femur and tibia in a quadruped

   corresponds to the human knee

2. 2
   noun

   In humans, the joint or the region of the joint in the middle part of the leg between the thigh and the shank.

   Penny was wearing a miniskirt, so she skinned her exposed knees when she fell.

3. 3
   noun

   A piece of timber or metal formed with an angle somewhat in the shape of the human knee when bent.

   Deck beams were supported by hanging knees, triangular pieces of wood typically found underneath the timbers they are designed to support, but in this case found above them.

4. 4
   noun

   An act of kneeling, especially to show respect or courtesy.

   Give them title, knee, and approbation.

5. 5
   noun

   Any knee-shaped item or sharp angle in a line; an inflection point.

   the knee of a graph

6. 6
   noun

   A blow made with the knee; a kneeing.

   Tante was groggy but not quite out so Winnie gave him a knee to the jaw that Rose had shown her, and that was enough. He slumped like a rag-doll to the floor.

7. 7
   noun

   The presence of a parent etc., where a young child acquires early knowledge.

   The duty is, or should be, a thing taught at one's father's knee, and the structure of the family gently enforces it.

8. 8
   verb

   To kneel to.

   I could as well be brought / To knee his throne and, squire-like, pension beg / To keep base life afoot

Etymology

From Middle English kne, from Old English cnēow, from Proto-West Germanic *kneu, from Proto-Germanic *knewą, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵnéw-o-m, a thematic derivative of *ǵónu. See also West Frisian knibbel, Low German Knee, Knie, Dutch knie, German Knie, Danish knæ, Norwegian kne, Swedish knä; also Hittite 𒄀𒉡 (genu), Latin genū, Tocharian A kanweṃ (dual), Tocharian B kenī, Ancient Greek γόνυ (gónu, “knee”), γωνία (gōnía, “corner, angle”), Welsh glin (“knee”), Old Armenian ծունր (cunr), Avestan 𐬲𐬥𐬎𐬨 (žnum), Sanskrit जानु (jā́nu). The obsolete plural kneen is from Middle English kneen, knen, kn…