on bended knee

1. Humbly, pleading, as in They're desperate for funds; they're asking for contributions on bended knee. This expression alludes to a traditional attitude of supplication. Bended, the past tense of bend, survives only in this idiom, elsewhere having been replaced by bent. [Mid-1600s]

Example Sentences

His colleagues celebrated his candidacy by circulating an image of him on bended knee praying for divine guidance with other lawmakers on the House floor.

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Her role was captured during a now-famous moment in the West Wing of the White House, when the Treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, got down on bended knee pleading for Ms. Pelosi’s help.

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She says in the show: “Here I am, coming to you, prime minister, on bended knee, for the sign-off, but I’m hoping that will be a formality.”

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She included this gem, which apparently we're supposed to get down on bended knee to thank her for: "As January 6 approached, I circulated a memo to my Republican colleagues explaining why our congressional proceedings to count electoral votes could not be used to change the outcome of the election."

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Fred Ryan, The Post’s publisher, criticized Biden for “going to Jiddah on bended knee to shake the ‘pariah’s’ bloodstained hand.”

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