knead
Americanverb (used with object)
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kneads,
present (3rd person singular)
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kneaded,
past participle, past
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kneading
present participle
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to work (dough, clay, etc.) into a uniform mixture by pressing, folding, and stretching.
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to manipulate by similar movements, as the body in a massage.
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to make by kneading.
to knead bread.
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to make kneading movements with.
She kneaded her fist into her palm.
verb
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to work and press (a soft substance, such as bread dough) into a uniform mixture with the hands
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to squeeze, massage, or press with the hands
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to make by kneading
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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kneadabilitynoun
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kneadernoun
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rekneadverb (used with object)
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kneadableadjective
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unkneadedadjective
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kneadinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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kneadsimple
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kneadssimple
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have kneadedperfect
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has kneadedperfect
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am kneadingprogressive
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are kneadingprogressive
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is kneadingprogressive
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have been kneadingperfect progressive
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has been kneadingperfect progressive
Past
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kneadedsimple
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had kneadedperfect
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was kneadingprogressive
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were kneadingprogressive
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had been kneadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of knead
before 950; Middle English kneden, Old English cnedan; cognate with German kneten, Dutch kneden
Explanation
To knead is to massage, as you might knead a sore muscle to relieve the pain or knead bread dough before baking it. Knead, pronounced “need,” comes from Old English, and its meaning has changed little over time. Knead is sometimes used to describe a cat’s behavior of repeatedly pushing its paws (and claws) into soft surfaces — almost like it’s kneading dough. We’re pretty sure cats did the same thing long ago when folks spoke Old English, but there’s no word on whether knead was used to describe this behavior back then.
Vocabulary lists containing knead
The Silent Treatment: Words Plagued by Silent Letters
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Stairway To Leaven: Baking Vocabulary
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"The Odyssey," Vocabulary from Part 1 of the epic poem
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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.
See Examples For:
Though its smell is hardly appetizing, the cloth is surrounded by a group of women, each with her hands on the folds to knead, slap, punch and beat the cloth into shape.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
Workers don't like to wake up early to knead dough by hand, Mr Hur says softly.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2025
Remove, punch down, and knead a few times before dividing in half to form two loafs.
From Salon ● Mar. 12, 2024
Nouman said his first job is to start a small fire to cook breakfast, while his wife and daughters knead dough for flatbread and then wash their utensils and metal cooking griddle.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 4, 2024
My software didn’t catch that but because, as we all know, it can’t tell the difference between sound-alike words: but and butt, need and knead, sew and sow, and so on.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
This uneven motion effectively kneads the molten rock and helps generate bubbles.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 22, 2025
He kneads pizza dough before cranking out several dozen tortillas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2025
As she kneads a ball of rice with her hands, mixing it with the lentils and spinach before feeding it to one of her children, she explains that even buying bread is a struggle.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2022
Ms. Marzovilla kneads the flour into long, slender tubes of maccheroncini, then pits their bread-crust flavor against sweet peas and tender strands of duck confit.
From New York Times ● May 17, 2022
He kneads the palm of his hand into his eye, clumsily wiping away tears.
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
In a truck parked in the Kyiv region, Loic Nervi kneaded the dough vigorously before sliding dozens of tins into the oven -- loaves that will later be handed out to Ukrainians.
From Barron's ● Feb. 21, 2026
He and I really kneaded it to make it the funniest part.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2024
This is then cooked in a giant pot and slowly kneaded with a wooden stick until it thickens.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 2024
A toasted rice aroma hangs around the factory line, where rice is combined with small plastic beads, heated and kneaded before being extruded in thin rods that are cooled and cut into tiny brown pellets.
From Reuters ● Mar. 9, 2023
She sighed, and kneaded her hands, which ached.
From "Son" by Lois Lowry
Cooks in the royal kitchens also advanced the art of naan-making by introducing specialised kneading techniques and adding yeast - a rare ingredient at the time - to make the bread softer and fluffier.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2025
"You repurpose existing skills -- using an oven, measuring ingredients, kneading dough -- and combine them with new ones, like whipping batter and making frosting, to create something entirely different."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 28, 2025
While the crossings remain closed, life has regained a semblance of normality, with bakers kneading bread, fruit and vegetable sellers wheeling out their carts, and customers frequenting shops.
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2025
It was especially massage-oriented, with repeated scalp kneading, hair combing and cleansing over 90 minutes, and involved five teas, or “herbal soups,” each infused with different organic herbs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2024
Sometimes Rita will hum, while kneading or peeling: a wordless humming, tuneless, unfathomable.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
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.
