knuckle
Americannoun
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a joint of a finger, especially one of the articulations of a metacarpal with a phalanx.
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the rounded prominence of such a joint when the finger is bent.
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a joint of meat, consisting of the parts about the carpal or tarsal joint of a quadruped.
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an angle or protrusion at the intersection of two members or surfaces, as in the timbers of a ship or in a roof.
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a cylindrical projecting part on a hinge, through which an axis or pin passes; the joint of a hinge.
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(in a wire mesh) a bend in a wire crossing another wire.
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(on a chair arm) one of the ridges left at the front end by longitudinal flutes carved to accommodate the fingers.
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Nautical. a pronounced edge formed by a change in the form of the shell of a hull.
verb (used with object)
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to rub or press with the knuckles.
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Marbles. to shoot (a marble) from the thumb and forefinger.
verb phrase
noun
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a joint of a finger, esp that connecting a finger to the hand
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a joint of veal, pork, etc, consisting of the part of the leg below the knee joint, often used in making stews or stock
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the cylindrical portion of a hinge through which the pin passes
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an angle joint between two members of a structure
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informal approaching indecency
verb
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(tr) to rub or press with the knuckles
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(intr) to keep the knuckles on the ground while shooting a marble
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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knucklesimple
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knucklessimple
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have knuckledperfect
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has knuckledperfect
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am knucklingprogressive
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are knucklingprogressive
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is knucklingprogressive
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have been knucklingperfect progressive
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has been knucklingperfect progressive
Past
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knuckledsimple
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had knuckledperfect
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was knucklingprogressive
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were knucklingprogressive
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had been knucklingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of knuckle
1325–75; Middle English knokel (akin to Dutch kneukel, German Knöchel ), diminutive of a word represented by Dutch knok, German Knochen bone; see -le
Explanation
Your knuckles are the joints in your fingers that are farthest from your fingernails. When you clench your hand into a fist, your knuckles are especially prominent. A knuckle is the part of your hand that makes it possible to move a finger freely, and if someone offers you a "knuckle sandwich," you should politely decline, since they're actually planning to make a fist and punch you in the mouth. To knuckle is to rub with the knuckles, like when you knuckle a bit of sand out of your eye. The root of knuckle is the Proto-Germanic knuk-, "bone."
Vocabulary lists containing knuckle
"LAFFF"
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"Modern Automotive Technology," Vocabulary from Section 11
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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:
Instead, attackers fill the space up to the ceiling, forming what I can only describe as a Dagwood knuckle sandwich.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
“Those tools are expensive when applied to you even if we don’t win at the end of the day, so knuckle under.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
This kit includes everything you need to make eight luxurious rolls: two pounds of Maine knuckle and claw meat, eight open-top buns, a half-pint of lemony mayo, and the butter to toast the rolls in.
From Salon ● Dec. 4, 2025
"I had a word with myself after the first set - I needed to really knuckle down and focus and I knew his level wasn't really going to drop," Draper added.
From BBC ● May 13, 2025
Miss Peregrine chewed her knuckle, her brow furrowing.
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
But they can try to make sense of what just passed, starting with a primary season that was a strange mix of ennui and white knuckles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
When it looked like my knuckles would punch holes in it, I plopped it down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
"He's getting frustrated. He had a great chance in the previous frame and didn't convert. Those knuckles will be sore, let me tell you."
From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2026
“Fingers bruised from lifting boxes on the warehouse floor, palms calloused from delivery bike handlebars, knuckles scarred with kitchen burns: These are not hands that have been allowed to hold power,” he said.
From Salon ● Nov. 6, 2025
One of the professor’s assistants had rapped on the box with his knuckles while no one was looking.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Yet, when faced with adversity, Adams never knuckled up for any fights on principle, choosing only to take the easiest and most comfortable way out.
From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2025
However the pair simply knuckled down and went back to work, with gigs and releasing music.
From BBC ● May 3, 2025
I only knuckled down on him 10 jumps from the wire because there was somebody above the wire in the starter’s stand.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2023
Boyd scored midway through the first period, beating Stalock on a shot from the right circle that knuckled off Chicago defenseman Ian Mitchell’s stick.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 28, 2023
Spearmen at each gate knuckled their foreheads at Jon Snow but stared openly at Val and her garron.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Writing for the Sun on Sunday, Starmer described the strategy as "the most ambitious yet honest delivery plan in a generation" as the government was "knuckling down" on delivering its election promises.
From BBC ● Dec. 1, 2024
Fowler scored his career-best 43rd point with a goal in the first period on a knuckling shot that threaded a path among three Anaheim teammates.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 24, 2023
They may be white knuckling it because they live in perpetual fear of someday failing to measure up.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 26, 2022
“Or I had people calling and saying, ‘I just need to talk with you because I’m white knuckling my way through things that I could do before the pandemic.’
From Washington Post ● Apr. 29, 2022
He grimaced, knuckling the back of his thumb into his upper stomach.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
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.
