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# knuckle

«knuckle» in Mova's school dictionary: **One of the joints of your fingers, especially where the…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a knuckle, knuckles); verb (knuckle down, knuckle under — phrasal)

### meaning for a pupil

1) One of the joints of your fingers, especially where the fingers join the hand. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckle/#m1)

2) A joint of meat from an animal's leg, as in pork knuckle. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckle/#m2)

3) «knuckle down» — to start working hard. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckle/#m3)

4) «knuckle under» — to give in and obey. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckle/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In science and health: the knuckles are joints. In maths: a trick to remember how many days each month has is counting on your knuckles (knuckles = 31 days). In everyday life: crack your knuckles, knock with your knuckles. Phrases: knuckle down, rap on the knuckles (a small telling-off), white knuckles (fear).

### examples

- He knocked on the door with his knuckles. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckle/#x1)
- She grazed her knuckles on the wall. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckle/#x2)
- Time to knuckle down and do your homework. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckle/#x3)
- Use your knuckles to remember which months have 31 days. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckle/#x4)
- My knuckles went white as I held the rollercoaster bar. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckle/#x5)
- He got a rap on the knuckles for being late. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckle/#x6)

### note

Countable. Silent k: said «nuckle». Myth: cracking knuckles does not cause arthritis; the sound is gas bubbles in the joint. «Knuckle sandwich» is slang for a punch (rough talk).

### In the corpora

- [Gorillas and chimps walk on all fours leaning on their knuckles, while orangutans walk on their fists or the sides of their hands.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/16-the-great-apes/11/)
- [Giant anteaters walk on their knuckles to protect long front claws, which rip open hard termite mounds and can fight off a jaguar.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/8/)
- [Studies have found no link between cracking knuckles and arthritis (stiff, painful joints).](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/87-eyes-ears-and-moving/16/)
- [Count the knuckles and the gaps between them on your fist: every knuckle month has 31 days.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/lessons/223-days-in-the-months/1/)
- [In the knuckle trick, months that land on a knuckle have 31 days, and months that land in a dip have fewer.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/111-days-weeks-and-months/15/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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