Search results for 'knee':

knee noun (knees) 1 in humans: the joint in the middle of the leg where the lower end of the femur articulates with the upper end of the tibia. 2 a the corresponding joint in the hindlimb of other vertebrates; b in a horse's foreleg: the joint corresponding to the wrist. 3 the area surrounding this joint. Also as adj and in compounds • knee-length. 4 the lap • sat with the child on her knee. 5 the part of a garment covering the knee • patches on the knee and elbow. 6 something which resembles the knee in action or shape. 7 bot a root upgrowth that trees growing in swamps breathe through. verb (kneed, kneeing) 1 to hit, nudge or shove someone or something with the knee. 2 to make (clothing) baggy at the knee. kneed or knee'd adj 1 said of trousers: baggy at the knees. 2 having knees or angular joints. at one's mother's knee said of truths, lessons, etc: (first learnt, heard, etc) when one was very young. bend or bow the knee formal or literary to kneel; to submit. bring someone their knees to defeat, prostrate, humiliate or ruin them utterly. go weak at the knees colloq to be overcome by emotion. on one's knees 1 kneeling. 2 exhausted. 3 begging.
ETYMOLOGY: Anglo-Saxon cneow.