knuckle-duster
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of knuckle-duster
An Americanism dating back to 1855–60
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.
Thatcher’s attack dog, the Tory lawmaker Norman Tebbit, was so obnoxious throughout his time in government that his character on the satirical puppet show “Spitting Image” was a leather-jacketed skinhead wielding a knuckle-duster.
From Washington Post ● May 30, 2019
Look at him, dumbly stuffing six on to each hand like a useless Swiss knuckle-duster.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 4, 2016
He wears a red polo shirt, knuckle-duster rings and the general high-definition radiance of his celebrity.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 3, 2010
The fact is that the sight of the knuckle-duster had changed my mood.
From The Uttermost Farthing A Savant's Vendetta by Freeman, R. Austin (Richard Austin)
"Aye, plenty o' belaying-pin soup, an' knuckle-duster hash!"
From The Blood Ship by Springer, Norman
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.
