knee 
mals ; the articulation of the thigh-bone or fe- 
mur with the tibia or fibula, or with both. See 
def. 2 (a) and knee-joint. 
Sche felle on kneys hym agayne, 
And of hys sorowe sche can hym frayne. 
MS. Cantab, ft. ii. 38, f. 82. (Halliwell, s. v. /raine.) 
Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced, . . . 
Pale as his shirt ; his knees knocking each other. 
SAat., Hamlet, ii. 1, 8. 
2. Some other joint in animals other than 
man, likened to the human knee-joint or re- 
garded as its representative, (a) The carpal articu- 
lation or wrist-joint of various animals, as the horse, cow, 
etc. : as, the horse went down on his knees. 
The horse's knees are cut to pieces. He came down in 
a hole, it seems, and pitched Rex over his head. 
George Eliot, Daniel Deronda, vii. 
(b) The tarsal articulation or heel-joint of a bird ; the suf- 
frago : as, tibite feathered down to the knee, (c) The joint 
of an insect's leg connecting the femur and the tibia. In 
descriptions the word is often used to indicate the apex of 
the femur, sometimes including the base of the tibia: as, 
black or yellow knees. 
3. Something resembling the knee in shape. 
And all about old stockes and stubs of trees . . . 
Did hang upon the ragged rocky knees. 
Spenser, V. Q., I. ts. 34. 
Specifically (a) In ship-building, a piece of timber or iron 
having an angular bend like that of the knee, used to se- 
cure the beams of a ship to her sides or timbers. The 
branches of the knee form an angle of greater or smaller 
extent, according to the situation of the pieces which it is 
designed to unite. Lodging-knees are knees fixed parallel 
to the deck. Hanging-knee*; are knees placed vertically, 
generally under a deck-beam. Diagonal hanging-knees 
are knees which cross the timbers in a slanting direc- 
tion. Also knee-piece. See cut under stern. (6) In carp., 
a piece of wood having a natural bend, or sawn into shape, 
and fitted into an angle, (c) In arch., a part of the back 
of a hand-rail of a convex form : the reverse of a ramp, 
which is concave. Owitt. (d) In bot., a spur-like process 
on the roots of the bald cypress, Taxodium distichum, by 
which a part of their surface is kept above water. 
In 1874, while engaged in the work of the Kentucky 
Geological Survey in the lowland district near the Missis- 
sippi, I had an opportunity of making some inquiries con- 
cerning the knees of the swamp cypress, which led me to 
the supposition that these peculiar processes from the 
roots served in some manner to aerate the sap. 
N. S. Shaler, Science, XIII. 176. 
4f. A genuflection ; reverence. 
Now, when the lords and barons of the realm 
Perceiv'd Northumberland did lean to him, 
The more and less came in with cap and knee. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., iv. 3, 68. 
Of their kissing salutations if they were equal!, and of 
the knee of the superiour by the inferiour, and adoration 
of the chiefe. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 375. 
Carllne knee, a knee placed at the junction of a caiiine 
and the frame of a ship, for strength. Housemaid's 
knee. See housemaid. to bow the knee, to do rever- 
ence or worship. 
I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who 
have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Rom. xi. 4. 
To Offer or give a knee, to act as second or bottle-holder, 
as in a prize-fight, it being customary for each of the prin- 
cipals in such a contest to rest on the knee of his second 
between the rounds. 
Cuff . . . planted his blows upon his adversary, and 
floored that unlucky champion three times running. At 
each fall there was a cheer ; and everybody was anxious to 
have the honor of offering the conqueror a knee. 
Thackeray, Vanity Fair, v. 
Now Tom, with East to handle him, and Martin to give 
him a knee, steps out on the turf. 
T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Rugby, ii. 5. 
knee (ne), v. [< ME. "kneen, knewien, knowien, 
< AS. cnedwian = OHG. chniuwen, knewen, MHG. 
kniewen, knien, G. knien, kneel ; from the noun.] 
I. intrans. To go down on the knees; kneel. 
[Obsolete or poetical.] 
Seththe hi knawede and seyde, Hayl, Gywene [Jews'] kyng. 
Old Eng. Miscellany (ed. Morris), p. 48. 
II. trans. If. To kneel to. 
I could as well be brought 
To knee his throne. Shak., Lear, U. 4, 217. 
2f. To pass over on the knees. 
Fall down, and knee 
The way into his mercy. Shak., Cor., v. 1, 6. 
3. In ship-building, to fit with a knee or knees. 
knee-bone (ne'bon), n. [< ME. knebone.~] The 
bone or bones of the knee ; the kneecap. 
knee-boss (ne'bos), n. A defense for the knee, 
consisting of a simple con- 
vex plate or cap made of 
boiled leather or other ma- 
terial, and strapped around 
the leg at the knee-joint, or 
secured to the hose : a com- 
mon piece of armor through- 
out the middle ages. 
knee-breeches (ne ' brich '- 
ez), n. pi. Breeches that 
reach to the knee or just 
below it; especially, a 
close-fitting garment cov- 
ering the thigh and the 
3300 
lower part of the body, worn generally from 
the beginning of the eighteenth century until 
about 1815. See knickerbockcr, 3. 
knee-brush (ne'brush), n. In zoiil. : (a) The 
brush or tuft of hair on the knees of some an- 
telopes, (b) The mass of thick-set hairs on 
the legs of bees, by means of which they carry 
pollen from one plant to another or to their hive. 
knee-cap (ne'kap), n. 1. The bone capping 
the protuberance of the knee; the kneepan; 
the patella. See cut under knee-joint. [Com- 
monly written kneecap in this sense.] 2. Any 
covering for the knee, worn as a protection from 
injury either to the joint or to the clothing that 
covers it. 3. Milit., same as genouillere. 
knee-cop (ne'kop), n. Milit., same as genouil- 
lere. 
knee-cords (ne'kdrdz), n. pi. Knee-breeches 
made of corded fabric, as corduroy; corded 
breeches. [Bare.] 
It had long been his ambition to stand in a bar of his 
own, in a green coat, knee-cords, and tops. 
Dickens, Pickwick, xiv. 
knee-crooking (ne'truri/ing), a. Bending the 
knee as in reverence ; humble ; servile. 
Many a duteous and knee-crooking knave . . . 
Wears out his time, much like his master's ass, 
For nought but provender. Shak., Othello, i. 1, 45. 
kneed (ned), a. [< knee + -cd 2 .] 1. Having 
knees: used chiefly in composition, as in knock- 
kneed. 2. Marked wither by the knees; bulg- 
ing at the knees, as a pair of trousers. 3. In 
anat., zool., and bot., geniculate; bent at an an- 
gle, and protuberant at the bending, like the 
knee; having a swollen joint in a bent axis. 
Also knee-jointed. See cut under geniculate. 
knee-deep (ne'dep), a. 1. Rising to the knees: 
as, the snow lay knee-deep. 
The ground in fourteen days is dry, and grass knee-deep 
within a month. Milton, Hist. Moscovia. 
2. Sunk to the knees: as, wading knee-deep in 
water or mire. 
In winter weather unconcern'd he goes, 
Almost knee-deep through mire in clumsy shoes. 
Dryden. 
knee-guard (ne'gard), n. Milit., same as ge- 
nouillere. 
knee-gUSSet (ne'gus"et), . In armor. See 
gusset. 
knee-high (ne'hl), a. As high as the knee: as, 
water knee-high Knee-high to a grasshopper, of 
very short stature. [Jocose, U. S. ] 
kneeholly (ne'hol"i), . [Also kneeholm (cf. 
holm' 2 ', holly 1 ) ; < ME. *kneholen, cnehole, < AS. 
cneoholen, cneoicholen, kneeholly, < cne6, cnedm, 
knee, + nolen, holly: see hollen, holly 1 , holm 2 .'] 
A plant, Buscus aculeatus; butcher's-broom. 
kneeholm (ne'holm or ne'hom), n. Same as 
kneeholly. 
kneehuiver(ne'huFver), n. Kneeholly. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
knee-iron (ne'I"ern), n. An L-shaped angle- 
iron, used to strengthen a joint formed by two 
timbers in a frame. 
knee-jerk (ne'jerk), n. A sudden jerking of the 
knee, caused by a contraction of the quadriceps 
femoris, evoked by a blow on the patellar ten- 
don or in any way that gives the quadriceps a 
sudden tug. Also called patellar tendon reflex 
and knee-kick. 
All the methods by 
which the knee-jerk 
may be obtained are 
merely different ways 
of giving the quadri- 
ceps muscle a twitch 
by bringing a sudden 
strain upon its tendon. 
Amer. Jour. Psychol., 
[1.7. 
knee-joint (ne 7 - 
joint), n. 1. (a) 
The joint at the 
knee ; the joint 
between the thigh 
and the lower leg; 
the articulation 
of the femur with 
either or both of 
the bones of the 
Knee-boss. (FmmViol- 
Human Knee-joint. 
i. Right knee-joint laid open from the 
front, to show the internal ligaments: a, 
cartilaginous surface of lower extremity 
of the femur, with its two condyles; o, 
anterior crucial ligament ; c, posterior 
do.; d, internal semilunar cartilage; e, 
external cartilage ; /, part of the liga- 
ment of the patella turned down ; g, sy- 
novial bursa laid open beneath the liga- 
ment of the patella. 2. Longitudinal sec- 
tion of the left knee-joint : a, cancellous 
leg. the tluia and structure oflower part of femur; *, ten- 
flV^ilo T ii. don of extensor muscles of leg ; c, patel- 
nOUia. In man the la; rf.ligamentofthepatella; *, cancel- 
knee-joint is formed I?us structure of head of tibia ; ./, ante- 
by the articulation Of rior f cru f ial lament; ^ posterior liga- 
tii/il.T^a Wo i ri ment; h, mass of fat projecting 1 into the 
the large external and cavitj ; of ' the joint be l ow j the p \ t( . na . , ; 
internal condylea of bursa. 
the femur with the 
broad flattened top of the tibia (the fibula being excluded), 
covered in front by the kneepan or patella, a large sesa- 
moid bone in the tendon of the extensor muscles. It is 
a ginglymus or hinge-joint, permitting complete flexion, 
knee-roof 
limiting extension to a right line, and admitting in some 
positions of slight rotatory movement. As far as the bones 
are concerned, the knee-joint is one of the most open and 
insecure articulations in the body ; but it is very strongly 
secured by its ligaments and tendons. These are, on the 
surface of the joint, a general capsular investment, par- 
ticularly thick and strong behind, where it is known as 
the posterior ligament of Winslow, a structure prevent- 
ing extension beyond a right line ; the patellar ligament, 
that in which the kneepan is situated, and which is the 
extensor tendon of the muscles in front of the thigh, 
inserted into the tibia; the internal lateral ligament, 
chiefly derived from the tendon of the semi-membrano- 
sus muscle ; and two external lateral ligaments, passing 
to the head of the fibula. Inside the Joint are a pair of 
crucial ligaments, crossed like the letter A", passing from 
the femoral intercondylar notch to the head of the tibia. 
The nearly flat head of the tibia supports a pair, inner and 
outer, of semilunar interarticular flbrocartilages. These 
serve to deepen the depressions which receive the very 
convex condyles of the femur. These cartilages are inter- 
connected by an anterior transverse ligament, and united 
to the inner surface of the capsular ligament by two coro- 
nary ligaments. The most extensive synovial membrane 
of the body is found in the knee-joint Its processes, 
known asotar and mucous ligaments, are not ligaments in 
a proper sense. There are several separate synovial bursffl 
about the joint ; it contains a quantity of fat beneath the 
patellar ligament, and is supplied by appropriate arteries, 
veins, nerves, and lymphatics, (ft) Some joint likened 
to or mistaken for a knee : as, (1) the carpal ar- 
ticulation of the fore leg of various animals, as 
the horse ; (2) the tarsal articulation of a bird's 
foot; the heel. 2. In mach., same as toggle- 
joint. 
knee-jointed (ne'join'ted), a. Same a,skneed,S. 
knee-kick (ne'Mk), . Same as knee-jerk. 
kneel (nel), v. i.; pret. and pp. knelt or kneeled, 
ppr. kneeling. [< ME. knelen, cneolen, cneolien, 
kneulen, knewien, < AS. *cne6wlian (cited from 
a manuscript and not verified, but supported 
also by the verbal n. kny, for *cnylung, glossed 
by L. accubitus) (= D. knielen = MLG. knelen, 
knilen, LG. knelen = G. dial, knielen, also (Swiss) 
kneulen, kniilen = Dan. knale), kneel; with for- 
mative -I, of freq. force, < eneow, ME. kne, knee : 
see knee, n., and cf. knee, v.'] To go down on 
the knees or a knee ; bend the legs at the knees 
and rest for a time upon them, or upon one of 
them, as in supplication or homage. 
Cutberd heo ladde in to halle 
And he a kne gan falle : 
He sette him a knewelyng, 
And grette wel the gode kyng. 
King Horn (E. E. T. S.), 1. 781. 
lie curtayse to God, and knele doun 
On bothe knees with grete deuocioun, 
To mon thou shalle knele opon the ton [one]. 
Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 304. 
Silent and slow, like ghosts, they glide 
To the high altar's hallow'd side, 
And there they knelt them down. 
Scott, L. of L. M., vi. 29. 
A red-cross knight for ever kneel'd 
To a lady in his shield. 
Tennyson, Lady of Shalott. 
kneeler(ne'ler), . 1. One who kneels, or wor- 
ships by kneeling. 
Melissa knelt ; but Lady Blanche erect 
Stood up and spake, an affluent orator. 
"It was not thus, O Princess, in old days; . . . 
I loved you like this kneeler." 
Tennyson, Princess, iv. 
2. In the early church, one of a class of peni- 
tents who were permitted to occupy a kneel- 
ing position between the ambo and the door of 
the church. They received their name from the fact 
that they had to kneel even at times when prayer was 
made by the faithful standing. See penitent. 
kneent, . An obsolete plural of knee. 
kneepan (ne'pan), n. The kneecap or patella. 
knee-piece (ne'pes), . 1. Same as knee-rafter. 
2. An angular piece of timber used in a roof 
to strengthen a joint where two timbers meet. 
3. Milit., any defensive appliance used to 
cover the knee; especially, in medieval armor, 
the genouillere. See cut under genouillere. 
4. In ship-building, same as knee, 3 (a). 
knee-pine (ne'pin), . A dwarf variety of the 
European mountain pine, Pinus Mughus (P.pu- 
milio), var. nana. 
knee-plate (ne'plat), n. 1. A defensive ap- 
pliance for the tilt used in the fifteenth and six- 
teenth centuries, consisting of a broad steel 
plate shaped to cover the thigh and to project 
on each side. Its chief object was to protect 
the left leg from friction against the barrier. 
2. A similar defense shown in pictures of the 
sixteenth century as worn over the right leg. 
knee-rafter (ne'raf't^r), . A rafter the lower 
end or foot of which is crooked downward, so 
that it may rest more firmly on the wall. Also 
called crook-rafter and knee-piece. 
Knee-rafter, or crook-rafter, is the principal truss of a 
house. Oxford Glosinry. 
knee-roof (ue'rof), . Same as curb-roof. 
