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# knuckles

«knuckles» in Mova's school dictionary: **the joints in your fingers, especially where your fingers…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (plural of «knuckle»: a knuckle, knuckles); verb phrase «knuckle down», «knuckle under»

### meaning for a pupil

1) Knuckles are the joints in your fingers, especially where your fingers join your hand, which stick out when you make a fist. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckles/#m1)

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

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

4) To knuckle under means to give in. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckles/#m4)

5) To rap someone on the knuckles means to tap or scold them lightly as a punishment. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckles/#m5)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday life you knock on a door with your knuckles; cold weather can make knuckles dry and cracked. In science lessons about the skeleton, knuckles are joints where finger bones meet. In stories white knuckles show someone gripping tightly in fear. Phrases: «crack your knuckles», «white knuckles», «knuckle down», «rap on the knuckles» (a telling-off).

### examples

- He knocked on the door with his knuckles. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckles/#x1)
- She gripped the rope until her knuckles turned white. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckles/#x2)
- Grandpa cracks his knuckles before playing the piano. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckles/#x3)
- My knuckles were sore after the cold. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckles/#x4)
- Each finger has three knuckles, but the thumb has two. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckles/#x5)
- It's time to knuckle down and revise. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckles/#x6)
- He grazed his knuckles on the wall. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckles/#x7)
- The fist showed four bumpy knuckles. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckles/#x8)
- If they broke down in their make-believe he rapped them on the knuckles. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/K/knuckles/#x9)

### note

The k is silent: NUK-ulz. Singular: knuckle. Myth: cracking your knuckles causes arthritis — studies have not shown this, though it can annoy people. Counting: one hand has 14 finger joints (three per finger, two in the thumb).

### 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/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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