- the joint between the top and bottom parts of the leg where it bends in the middle
- a knee injury
- I had knee surgery three years ago.
- Bend your knees until you feel your thigh muscles working.
- I grazed my knee when I fell.
- He went down on one knee and asked her to marry him.
- on your knees She was on her knees scrubbing the kitchen floor.
- Everyone was down on (their) hands and knees (= crawling on the floor) looking for the ring.
- He fell to his knees and begged for mercy.
- My knees were knocking (= I was frightened).
Extra ExamplesTopics Bodya2- He dropped to one knee.
- She hugged her knees to keep warm.
- He patted my knee reassuringly.
- He slapped his knee as he rocked with laughter.
- She's snapped a ligament in her knee.
- I rested my chin on my drawn-up knees.
- Suddenly her knees buckled and she fell to the floor.
- The blow knocked me to my knees.
- His leg was missing below the knee.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- left
- right
- bony
- …
- bend
- flex
- straighten
- …
- buckle
- give way
- weaken
- …
- injury
- problem
- sprain
- …
- above the knee
- across your knees
- at somebody’s knee
- …
- bring something to its knees
- on your hands and knees
- on bended knee
- …
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- the part of a piece of clothing that covers the knee
- I brushed the dust from the knees of my trousers.
- at the knee These jeans are torn at the knee.
- a knee patch
- the top surface of the upper part of the legs when you are sitting down synonym lap
- Come and sit on Daddy's knee.
Extra Examples- She had a blanket draped across her knees.
- He sat on his mother's knee while she read him a story.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- left
- right
- bony
- …
- bend
- flex
- straighten
- …
- buckle
- give way
- weaken
- …
- injury
- problem
- sprain
- …
- above the knee
- across your knees
- at somebody’s knee
- …
- bring something to its knees
- on your hands and knees
- on bended knee
- …
More Like This Silent lettersSilent letters
Word OriginOld English cnēow, cnēo, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch knie and German Knie, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin genu and Greek gonu.
Idioms
See knee in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee knee in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishat your mother’s knee
- when you were very young
- I learnt these songs at my mother's knee.
the bee’s knees
- (informal) an excellent person or thing
- She thinks she's the bee's knees (= she has a very high opinion of herself).
bring somebody to their knees
- to defeat somebody, especially in a war
bring something to its knees
- to badly affect an organization, etc. so that it can no longer function
- The strikes brought the industry to its knees.
- The fuel shortage brought the country to its knees within weeks.
on bended knee(s)
- if you ask for something on bended knee(s), you ask for it in a very anxious and/or humble way (= showing you think you are less important than the person you are asking)
- I’d go down on bended knee if I thought she’d change her mind.
put somebody over your knee
- to punish somebody by making them lie on top of your knee and hitting their bottom
take a/the knee
- to kneel on one knee in public in order to protest about the unfair treatment of black people
- Officers at the rally were seen taking a knee in solidarity with the demonstrators.
weak at the knees
- (informal) hardly able to stand because of emotion, fear, illness, etc.
- His sudden smile made her go weak at the knees.
Check pronunciation:
knee