Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Knuckle

Knuc′kle (nŭk′k'l), n. [OE. knokel, knokil, AS. cuncel; akin to D. knokkel, OFries. knokele, knokle, G. knöchel, Sw. knoge, Dan. knokkel, G. knochen bone, and perh. to E. knock.] 1. The joint of a finger, particularly when made prominent by the closing of the fingers. Davenant.

2. The kneejoint, or middle joint, of either leg of a quadruped, especially of a calf; — formerly used of the kneejoint of a human being.

With weary knuckles on thy brim she kneeled sadly down. Golding.

3. The joint of a plant. [Obs.] Bacon.

4. (Mech.) The joining parts of a hinge through which the pin or rivet passes; a knuckle joint.

5. (Shipbuilding) A convex portion of a vessel's figure where a sudden change of shape occurs, as in a canal boat, where a nearly vertical side joins a nearly flat bottom.

6. A contrivance, usually of brass or iron, and furnished with points, worn to protect the hand, to add force to a blow, and to disfigure the person struck; as, brass knuckles; — called also knuckle duster. [Slang.]

Knuckle joint (Mach.), a hinge joint, in which a projection with an eye, on one piece, enters a jaw between two corresponding projections with eyes, on another piece, and is retained by a pin which passes through the eyes and forms the pivot. — Knuckle of veal (Cookery), the lower part of a leg of veal, from the line of the body to the knuckle.

Knuc′kle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Knuckled;; p. pr. & vb. n. Knuckling.] To yield; to submit; — used with down, to, or under.

To knuckle to. (a) To submit to in a contest; to yield to. [Colloq.] See To knock under, under Knock, v. i. (b) To apply one's self vigorously or earnestly to; as, to knuckle to work. [Colloq.]

Knuc′kle, v. t. To beat with the knuckles; to pommel. [R.] Horace Smith.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.