knee

knee¹ W2S2 [ni:] n

[: Old English; Origin: cneow]

1.) the joint that bends in the middle of your leg

▪ Lucy had a bandage round her knee.

on your knees

▪ She was on her knees (=kneeling) weeding the garden.

sink/fall/drop to your knees

(=move so that you are kneeling)

▪ Tim fell to his knees and started to pray.

▪ a painful knee injury

2.) the part of your clothes that covers your knee

▪ His jeans had holes in both knees.

3.) on sb's knee

on the top part of your legs when you are sitting down

▪ Daddy, can I sit on your knee?

4.) knees knocking (together)

if your knees are knocking, you are feeling very afraid or very cold

5.) on your knees

in a way that shows you have no power but want or need something very much

▪ Unemployment was so bad in the 1930s that they went on their knees nearly to get jobs.

6.) bring sb/sth to their knees

a) to defeat a country or group of people in a war

▪ The bombing was supposed to bring the country to its knees.

b) to have such a bad effect on an organization, activity etc that it cannot continue

= ↑cripple

▪ The recession has brought many companies to their knees.

7.) put/take sb over your knee

old-fashioned to punish a child by hitting them

8.) on bended knee(s)

old-fashioned in a way that shows great respect for someone

→knee/elbow pad at ↑pad¹ (1), learn/be taught sth at your mother's knee at ↑mother¹ (4), the bee's knees at ↑bee, weak at the knees at ↑weak

knee ²

knee² v [T + in]

to hit someone with your knee

▪ I kneed him in the groin.