brass knuckles
Americannoun
Usage
What else does brass knuckles mean? Brass knuckles are a piece of metal designed to fit around the fingers by the lower knuckles and gripped by the hand. They can pack a powerful, potentially lethal punch. How do you pronounce brass knuckles?[ bras nuhk-uhls ]
Etymology
Origin of brass knuckles
An Americanism dating back to 1850–55
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s hard to figure out where the heart of a city council district is when its shape reminds you of brass knuckles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2023
If brevity is the soul of wit, it’s also the brass knuckles of one-upmanship on Twitter.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 3, 2021
Business and civic leaders, in the large corporations and the elite universities, should grow some brass knuckles, too.
From Salon ● Nov. 20, 2020
He crafts dialogue with the florid, evocative quality endemic to writers who get their start on pulp literature, wielding similes like brass knuckles.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 22, 2019
Did you know Jacques Lacan, the most celebrated psychoanalyst of his time, used to carry a set of brass knuckles?
From Washington Post ● May 15, 2018
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
