KNEE

I. noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English, from Old English cnēow; akin to Old High German kneo ~, Latin genu, Greek gony Date: before 12th century 1. a joint in the middle part of the human leg that is the articulation between the femur, tibia, and patella, b. the joint in the hind leg of a four-footed vertebrate that corresponds to the human ~, the carpal joint of the foreleg of a four-footed vertebrate, the tarsal joint of a bird, the joint between the femur and tibia of an insect, something resembling the human ~: as, a piece of timber naturally or artificially bent for use in supporting structures coming together at an angle (as the deck beams of a ship), a rounded or conical process rising from the roots of various swamp-growing trees , the part of a garment covering the ~, a blow with the bent ~, ~d adjective II. transitive verb (~d; ~ing) Date: before 12th century to bend the ~ to, to strike with the ~