on bended knee

Idioms  

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 Bended, the past tense of bend, survives only in this idiom, elsewhere having been replaced by bent.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]

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Example Sentences

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.

From New York Times • Jan. 3, 2023

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.”

From Washington Post • Nov. 11, 2022

Just weeks later, he went down on bended knee at an Oxford ball.

From BBC • Nov. 9, 2022

You want people to not have to come to you on bended knee for permission, because that ends up giving the main player too much power.

From The Verge • Apr. 26, 2022

A blushing queen of little more than twenty summers on her throne, and the whole flame-lit hall filling with noble knights on bended knee.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White