knock-knee

American  

[nok-nee] / ˈnɒkˌni /

noun

1. inward curvature of the legs, causing the knees to knock together in walking.

2. knock-knees, the knees of a person whose legs have such curvature.

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knock-knee British  

noun

1. Technical name: genu valgum.  a condition in which the legs are bent inwards causing the knees to touch when standing

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Other Word Forms

• knock-kneed
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of knock-knee

First recorded in 1820–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

knock-knee

Dr. Truslow operated on her right shin bone, just below the knee, to correct the knock-knee, knee flexion and outward flexion of that leg.

From Time Magazine Archive

That dog’s gonna be right jealous you dumped her so easy for something as plain and homely as that skinny, knock-knee Foster girl.

From "The Journey of Little Charlie" by Christopher Paul Curtis

If allowed to unite with the condyle displaced, the articular surface is oblique and bow- or knock-knee results.

From Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities—Head—Neck. Sixth Edition. by Alexander Miles

An obliquity of the bone may result when one half of the epiphysial cartilage is destroyed and the other half continues to form bone, giving rise to such deformities as knock-knee and club-hand.

From Manual of Surgery Volume First: General Surgery. Sixth Edition. by Alexis Thomson

It has also been produced in attempting forcibly to rectify knock-knee and other deformities in this region, and in making traction on the limb to correct deformities following recovery from tuberculous disease of the knee.

From Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities—Head—Neck. Sixth Edition. by Alexander Miles