What does "knuckle" mean?
Any of the joints between the bones of the fingers.
Knuckle
/ˈnʌkəl/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Any of the joints between the bones of the fingers.
- Grammar: knuckle is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: metacarpophalangeal joint, ankle, apply, articulation.
- Useful contrasts: caress, dawdle, defy.
- Usage evidence: You'd better knuckle down to work.
How to use "knuckle"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "knuckle" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "knuckle" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "knuckle" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "knuckle" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "knuckle" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "metacarpophalangeal joint" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "knuckle", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any of the joints between the bones of the fingers.
- 2 a joint of a finger when the fist is closed wordnet
- 3 A mechanical joint. broadly
- 4 The curved part of the cushion at the entrance to the pockets on a cue sports table.
- 5 The kneejoint of a quadruped, especially of a calf; formerly, the kneejoint of a human being.
"With wearie knockles on thy brim she kneeled sadly downe"
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 A cut of meat of various kinds.
"Beef knuckle is from the knee joint. Pork knuckle, or ham hock, is from the joint between the tibia/fibula and the metatarsals of the foot of a pig, where the foot was attached to the leg."
- 7 The joint of a plant. obsolete
"In the West Indies there are found, even in sandy deserts and very dry places, large canes, which at every joint or knuckle yield a good supply of fresh water"
- 8 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.
- 9 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; a knuckle duster.
"brass knuckles"
- 10 The rounded point where a flat changes to a slope on a piste.
Verb
- 1 To apply pressure, or rub or massage with one's knuckles (noun sense 1). transitive
"He knuckled the sleep from his eyes."
- 2 shoot a marble while keeping one's knuckles on the ground wordnet
- 3 To strike or punch. slang, transitive
"I could feel my big toe snap, but as he's gone down on his good knee and half swung round I knuckled him in the kidney as hard as I could hit. He's gone all the way down, so I dropped my 19 stone into the middle of his back."
- 4 press or rub with the knuckles wordnet
- 5 To bend the fingers. intransitive
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 To touch one's forehead as a mark of respect. intransitive
- 7 To yield. figuratively, intransitive
- 8 To land on the knuckle (noun sense 9) of a curve of a slope, after a jump off a ramp that precedes the slope.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"You'd better knuckle down to work."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "knuckle"?
Common synonyms include: metacarpophalangeal joint, ankle, apply, articulation, articulation, bearing protrusion.
How do you use "knuckle" in a sentence?
You'd better knuckle down to work.
How do you pronounce "knuckle"?
Pronounced /ˈnʌkəl/.
Etymology
From Middle English knokel (“finger joint”), from Old English cnucel (“the juncture of two bones; knuckle; joint”), from Proto-West Germanic *knukil, from Proto-Germanic *knukilaz (“knuckle, knot, bump”), as *knukô (“bone, joint”) + *-ilaz (diminutive suffix). Cognate with Dutch knokkel (“knuckle”), Low German Knökel (“knuckle”), German Knöchel (“ankle, knuckle”), Old Norse knykill.