knee jerk
a reflex extension of the leg, caused by contraction of the quadriceps, resulting from a sharp tap on the patellar tendon; patellar reflex.
Origin of knee jerk
1Words Nearby knee jerk
Other definitions for knee-jerk (2 of 2)
of or relating to a knee-jerk.
Informal. reacting according to a certain habitual manner; unthinking: a knee-jerk liberal.
Origin of knee-jerk
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use knee jerk in a sentence
As you may know, Sundog has a knee jerk aversion to athleticism and technology.
It is not a knee-jerk response to a sudden perceived threat.
This whole thing about a black-and-white culture of knee-jerk reactions is reinforced by television.
James Patterson Goes Full ‘Fahrenheit 451’ With Burning Book Video | William O’Connor | November 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe knee-jerk cynicism with which it has been greeted is dysfunctional.
Paul Ryan’s New Plan Is a Good One, Especially for Black People | John McWhorter | July 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTStop with the knee jerk, blind defense of your own side—regardless of which that may be.
How Jon Stewart Made It Okay to Care About Palestinian Suffering | Dean Obeidallah | July 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Republicans are going to try to paint Bellows as a knee-jerk Democrat who just uses the civil-liberties argument when convenient.
Pro-Pot, Pro-Gay, Anti-NSA… and Running for Senate | David Freedlander | April 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe deep reflexes may also be altered, the knee-jerk being frequently absent on the affected side.
In some subjects the larger dose, 45 cubic centimeters, practically abolished the knee-jerk.
How to Live | Irving Fisher and Eugene FiskCross the knee to be stimulated over the other leg, and tap the tendon just below the knee cap, and the knee jerk appears.
Psychology | Robert S. WoodworthAnxious attention to the knee jerk inhibits it; gritting the teeth or clenching the fist reinforces it.
Psychology | Robert S. WoodworthWe see excellent examples of cerebral facilitation and inhibition in the case of the knee jerk.
Psychology | Robert S. Woodworth
British Dictionary definitions for knee jerk
Also called: patellar reflex physiol an outward reflex kick of the lower leg caused by a sharp tap on the quadriceps tendon just below the patella
made or occurring as a predictable and automatic response, without thought: kneejerk support
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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