kneecap
Americanverb (used with object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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kneecapsimple
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kneecapssimple
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have kneecappedperfect
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has kneecappedperfect
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am kneecappingprogressive
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are kneecappingprogressive
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is kneecappingprogressive
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have been kneecappingperfect progressive
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has been kneecappingperfect progressive
Past
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kneecappedsimple
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had kneecappedperfect
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was kneecappingprogressive
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were kneecappingprogressive
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had been kneecappingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of kneecap
Explanation
Your kneecap is the bony plate that covers the joint in the middle of your leg, between your thigh and shin. Whales don't have kneecaps, but it might surprise you to know that mice and birds do. The kneecap is just what it sounds like, a protective cap for your vulnerable knee. While the official anatomical term is patella, it's far more common to call this body part a kneecap. When babies are small, their kneecaps are made of soft cartilage, but by the time they're about three they harden into strong bone. If you're a fan of Mafia movies, you might also recognize the verb kneecap, "to shoot someone in the knee."
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:
He did not say whether he believed his previous kneecap condition — Ohtani underwent surgery in 2019 to address the bipartite patella in his left knee — was connected.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Late Friday, an Iranian official detailed Khamenei’s injuries for the first time, saying his kneecap and back had been wounded in the strike that killed his father.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 2026
Few if any government spokespeople have done more to kneecap their own agency in court than McLaughlin.
From Slate ● Feb. 18, 2026
Hill suffered torn ligaments and a dislocated kneecap in a game against the New York Jets last year, ending his season.
From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026
The condition that arises when the muscle that connects the kneecap to the shin bone becomes irritated due to overuse, especially from jumping activities.
From "The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander
Detroit coach Dan Campbell — who famously declared during his introductory press conference in 2021 that his team would bite off opponents’ kneecaps — told reporters that Branch’s actions were unacceptable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2025
Dorset Council leader Nick Ireland told the BBC at the time that it "kneecaps" the county’s efforts to achieve their "net zero" target - the goal of no longer adding to carbon emissions by 2050.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2024
The Fed is trying to pull of the difficult feat of slowing the economy enough through high interest rates to stifle high inflation but not so much that it kneecaps the job market.
From Seattle Times ● May 26, 2024
But some runners showed symptoms of new, if slight, damage in the bones and cartilage right around their kneecaps, a part of the joint that absorbs much of the pounding from running.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 19, 2022
The landing vibrated into my shins and set my kneecaps loose like baby teeth.
From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline
For weeks, automakers and suppliers have publicly sounded an optimistic tone, pointing to the industry’s lessons from a semiconductor crisis a few years ago that kneecapped production around the world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2025
In the decade and a half before the GCA kneecapped his war-surplus business, Cummings imported some 5 million firearms for distribution on the U.S. consumer market.
From Slate ● May 25, 2025
But her production lines were being constantly kneecapped by the start-stop of the grid.
From Salon ● Mar. 27, 2025
The systemic bias of the music industry may be a burden, but it hasn’t completely kneecapped Uchis on her road to fame.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2024
The $4 billion dividend payment would have kneecapped Albertsons.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 8, 2022
Fable comes with broad restrictions Anthropic says are aimed at kneecapping its ability to assist users with potentially dangerous activities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
"We should not be kneecapping America's largest source of renewable power, especially when we need more cheap, homegrown electricity," the Environmental Defense Fund's lead counsel Ted Kelly said in a statement.
From Barron's ● Dec. 22, 2025
To make matters worse, the photo resulted in Griffin being investigated by the Department of Justice and the Secret Service, landing her on the no-fly list and kneecapping any remaining prospects of live standup work.
From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2024
The most obvious proof of “Folie à Deux” misunderstanding the musical is the odd decision to cut the majority of these sequences short, kneecapping decades-old compositions before their emotional and musical resolutions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2024
Asked on Friday whether the White House is still interested in kneecapping the FCPA, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow confirmed that the administration is “looking at it.”
From Washington Post ● Jan. 20, 2020
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.
