knee-sprung
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of knee-sprung
An Americanism dating back to 1870–75
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.
The smaller of the two—but not by much—was a sloppy blond boy, rosy-cheeked and gum-chewing, with a relentlessly cheery demeanor and his fists thrust deep in the pockets of his knee-sprung trousers.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
A horseman would have called him knee-sprung and declared he stumbled.
From The Man from the Bitter Roots by Lockhart, Caroline
Thomas Carlyle's sentences are knee-sprung in front and his phrases are spavined behind, and, therefore, Carlyle has "a style" but not "style."
From The Battle of Principles A Study of the Heroism and Eloquence of the Anti-Slavery Conflict by Hillis, Newell Dwight
As the horses entered the stretch Geers spoke to his knee-sprung bay and he responded as only Robert J. could.
From Jimmie Moore of Bucktown by Trotter, Melvin Earnest
"He's beginning to look knee-sprung already," whispered he to Davies, "but I'll brace him if I can."
From Under Fire by Cox, C. B.
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.
