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# knobbly

«knobbly» in Mova's school dictionary: **covered with small round lumps or bumps** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (knobbly, knobblier, knobbliest); US often «knobby»

### meaning for a pupil

1) Knobbly means covered with small round lumps or bumps. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knobbly/#m1)

2) Knobbly knees are bony knees that stick out. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knobbly/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday life and stories it describes old trees, tree roots, potatoes, walking sticks or a knobbly old man's hands. In science lessons on materials or plants it describes bumpy textures. Phrases: «knobbly knees», «a knobbly stick», «knobbly tyres».

### examples

- The old oak tree had a knobbly trunk. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knobbly/#x1)
- He laughed at his own knobbly knees in his shorts. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knobbly/#x2)
- The mountain bike has knobbly tyres for mud. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knobbly/#x3)
- Gran's knobbly walking stick is made from a branch. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knobbly/#x4)
- Ginger is a knobbly root. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knobbly/#x5)
- The toad's back was knobbly and brown. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knobbly/#x6)

### note

Mainly UK, Australia and New Zealand; the USA usually says «knobby». The «k» is silent: «NOB-lee». Comes from «knob» (a round lump or handle).

### In the corpora

- [They came from the cold Andes mountains of South America, where thousands of purple, red and knobbly kinds still grow.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/345-rice-maize-and-potatoes-the-plants-that-feed-the-world/7/)
- [Mountain bikes have wide, knobbly tyres for grip on mud, and road bikes have thin, smooth ones for speed.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/physics/9-riding-a-bike/14/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «knobbly» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knobbly/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.