kneecap

[nee-kap]

noun

1. the patella.

2. a protective covering, usually knitted, for the knee.

verb (used with object)

kneecapped, kneecapping 

1. to cripple (a person) by shooting in the knee.

   Terrorists were kneecapping prospective jurors.

kneecap

/ ˈniːˌkæp /

noun

1. anatomy a nontechnical name for patella

2. another word for poleyn

verb

1. (esp of certain terrorist groups) to shoot (a person) in the kneecap, esp as an act of retaliation

kneecap

1. See patella

Other Word Forms

• kneecapper noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of kneecap¹

First recorded in 1650–60; knee + cap ¹

Example Sentences

Those who survived the pandemic were then kneecapped again by the raids.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“I found out he broke his kneecap and I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Ansari continued, Reeves himself standing onstage just a few feet away.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

After three months at the Y, I was walking home from dinner one night when I tripped on a crack in a sidewalk and fractured my kneecap.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“They hit you in the kneecaps when they know you’re already down,” he said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The band's name is a reference to kneecapping, a punishment deployed by paramilitaries during the Troubles when they would shoot people in the knees.

Read more on BBC