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Knuckle Under (To)

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To kneel for pardon. Knuckle here means the knee, and we still say a “knuckle of veal or mutton,” meaning the thin end of the leg near the joint. Dr. Ogilvie tells us there was an old custom of striking the under side of a table with the knuckles when defeated in an argument; and Dr. Johnson, following Bailey, says the same thing.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Knotgrass
Knout
Know Thyself
Know the Fitting Moment
Know Your Own Mind
Know-Nothings
Knows which Side his Bread is Buttered (He)
Knowledge-box (Your)
Knox’s Croft
Knuckle-duster
Knuckle Under (To)
Kobold
Kochlani
Koh-i-Nûr [Mountain of light]
Kohol or Kohl
Koli or the Kolis
Konx Ompax
Koppa
Korân
Korrigans
Koumiss or Kumiss