knuckle

Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

knuckle [knuckle knuckles knuckled knuckling] noun, verb BrE [ˈnʌkl] NAmE [ˈnʌkl]
noun
1. countable any of the joints in the fingers, especially those connecting the fingers to the rest of the hand
2. (also hock especially in NAmE)uncountable, countable a piece of meat from the lower part of an animal's leg, especially a pig
•knuckle of pork
more at (give sb/get) a rap on/over/across the knuckles at ↑rap _n., rap sb on/over the knucklesrap sb's knuckles at ↑rap _v.

Word Origin:
Middle English knokel (originally denoting the rounded shape when a joint such as the elbow or knee is bent), from Middle Low German, Middle Dutch knökel, diminutive of knoke ‘bone’. In the mid 18th cent. the verb knuckle (down) expressed setting the knuckles down to throw the taw (large marble) in a game of marbles, hence the notion of applying oneself with concentration.

Example Bank:
•She clenched the phone till her knuckles were white.
•She was rapped over the knuckles by her boss for criticizing the company in the press.
Idiom: ↑near the knuckle
Derived: ↑knuckle down ▪ ↑knuckle under
 
verb
Verb forms:

Word Origin:
Middle English knokel (originally denoting the rounded shape when a joint such as the elbow or knee is bent), from Middle Low German, Middle Dutch knökel, diminutive of knoke ‘bone’. In the mid 18th cent. the verb knuckle (down) expressed setting the knuckles down to throw the taw (large marble) in a game of marbles, hence the notion of applying oneself with concentration.
 
See also: ↑hock

• Từ đồng nghĩa / Synonyms:
  knuckle joint, metacarpophalangeal joint