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, Würtz’ 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. 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, Würtz’ 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.
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. 161/2. His father-in-law had every thing 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.
1897. Mary Kingsley, W. Africa, 390. A severe rap on my moral knuckles from my conscience.
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; | |
| You may buy it, or steal. | |
| 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. Shipbuilding. 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 cylindric 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 q.v.)
6. attrib. and Comb., as knuckle-hinge, -rap, -summons, -walker, -work; 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-kneed a., having prominent or bulging knees; knuckle thread, a rounded thread in a screw; knuckle timber, a timber having or forming a knuckle (see 4 c.).
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.
1866. G. Macdonald, Ann. Q. Neighb., v. (1878), 54. They [the horses] were so fat and *knuckle-kneed.
1837. Wheelwright, trans. Aristophanes, II. 176. With *knuckle-raps, we will put out the lamps.
1864. Browning, Sludge the Medium, 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, Ship-build. 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.
1874. Wood, Nat. Hist., I. 25. When these creatures [the gorilla, chimpansee, and orang-outan] aid their steps by placing the hands on the ground, they have the curious habit of resting the knuckles on the ground … From this peculiarity, the three apes have received the appropriate title of *knuckle-walkers.
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.
