knob

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English[edit]

Knobs (sense 2) on a device.

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English knobbe, from Middle Low German knobbe (“knob; knot in wood”), probably via Old Saxon from a variant of Proto-Germanic *knappô (“knob, lump”), one of several kn- words related to *knuttô (“knot”).

Cognate with Dutch knob, knobbel (“knob”), German Knubbe, Knubbel (“knob”). See also knop.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

knob (plural knobs)

  1. A rounded protuberance, especially one arising from a flat surface; a fleshy lump or caruncle.
  2. A rounded control switch that can be turned on its axis, designed to be operated by the fingers.
  3. A ball-shaped part of a handle, lever, etc., designed to be grabbed by the hand.
  4. A rounded ornament on the hilt of an edged weapon; a pommel.
  5. A prominent, rounded bump along a mountain ridge.
  6. (geography) A prominent rounded hill.
    • 2011, John Jeremiah Sullivan, Pulphead, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, page 144:
      We climbed to the top of Slate Hill, the highest knob in our town, and Ricky gave me a whole talk on how slate formed, how it was and was not shale.
  7. (slang, chiefly in the plural) A woman's breast.
  8. (slang, chiefly UK, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Commonwealth) The penis; dick.
    1. The head of the penis; the glans.
    2. (by extension, derogatory) A contemptible person; dick.
      • 2013, Roger Gray, Target Trojan, page 157:
        Arthur slammed his fist down on the table so hard, the cup jumped, spilling coffee. The rotten bastard means to have the guvnor’s guts. That fucking knob has never been on a live deployment in his entire life. […]
      • 2014 May, Thirteen O’Clock Press, Behind Closed Doors:
        […] He must really hate those people!” my father said in an all-too audible aside to Mom. “I don’t hate them, you stupid knob!” Critch said. It’s you and your whole kind I hate!”
      • 2015, C. J. Cronin, chapter 29, in Assassination:
        “Yes,” said Jessie, pouring herself a coffee. “The rumours are true. Birdie McBride has a big knob.” “No,” I corrected, deadpan, “I said he is a big knob,”
      • 2016 August, Zona Haselton, chapter 2, in Vengeance:
        […] I let out a sigh, and then stood up, and looked toward the thief, who was still running. “Bloody knob!” I called out, and then began to wipe off the dirt and water with my sweater sleeve.
      • 2023 March 5, Miranda Sawyer, quoting Andrew Fearn, “Sleaford Mods: ‘The UK is like a crazy golf course – all we’ve got left are landmarks’”, in The Guardian‎[1], →ISSN:
        Fearn picks Jeremy Clarkson (“absolute knob. Well-educated, 1980s BBC, and he thinks it’s a licence to say what he wants”); […]
  9. (vulgar, slang) The clitoris.
    • 2009 July, Angela Meadows, The Education of Victoria, Headline, →ISBN:
      A hot and strong sexual odour emanated from her fanny. I extended my head and pressed my nose between her lips. I pushed my tongue into her crack and lapped up the juices. [...] Then I moved up and grasped her long clitoris in my lips and began to suck and play with it with my tongue. She thrashed around, sometimes grasping my head with her thighs, sometimes opening her legs as wide as she could, pushing my away while gripping my head in her hands and urging me on. Through it all I kept my grip on her knob until her orgasm began to subside.
    • 2011 April, Angelica Rose, Labyrinth of Passions, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 133:
      He was seriously talented, and his fingers were now sliding back and forth over her wet knob, and she was losing her mind. Almost gasping for air from the pleasure, she felt the undeniable need for her release. […] Then his fingers quickened their strokes against her swollen rose bud, […]
  10. (cooking) A dollop, an amount just larger than a spoonful (usually referring to butter).
  11. A chunky branch-like piece, especially of a ginger rhizome.
    • 2001, David Joachim, The Clever Cook's Kitchen Handbook:
      Place whole, unpeeled knobs of ginger in a zipper-lock freezer bag for up to 3 months. Slice or break off what you need and return the rest to the freezer.
  12. A bulb of the garlic plant consisting of multiple cloves.
  13. (slang, US) A freshman at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina.
    • 2002 September, Nancy Mace, Mary Jane Ross, In the Company of Men: A Woman at the Citadel, page 44:
      Males voices, raised in anger, screamed at an unseen freshman. One voice demanded to know the rank on each jacket. “Hey, smack, what rank is this cadet uniform? Answer me, knob! Don’t you know, knob? What’s wrong, are you stupid, knob? For the first time since arriving at The Citadel, I fought to keep back tears. Exhausted from an hour of nonstop harassment, I was caught off guard by the sound of a boy sobbing behind me.
    • 2018 October, Joe Crochet, My Winning Seasons: Discovering the Champion Within, page 3:
      “You went to The Citadel?” her mother chimed in. “I’ve heard so many great things about that institution. Did you go through a plebe year?” I told her I did and that we called it the knob year because freshman cadets had to shave their heads bald to resemble the butt end of a door knob and keep it that way for an entire ten months while going through the process of being broken down, only to be built back up.
    • 2021 June, James Wigfall, Standing Tall:
      Day 1 at the South Carolina Military Academy is filled with the academy’s trademarks - the Guidon, the five basic commands, and a knob haircut.

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb[edit]

knob (third-person singular simple present knobs, present participle knobbing, simple past and past participle knobbed)

  1. (British, slang, vulgar, transitive, of a man) To have sex with.
    • 1995, Nick Hornby, High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 17:
      One morning, maybe three weeks after my last grapple with Penny, Thomson came roaring into our form room. ‘Oi, Fleming, you spastic. Guess who I knobbed last night?’
    • 2013, Sarah-Kate Lynch, Finding Tom Connor:
      Had Jack knobbed her as well? Molly wondered.

Synonyms[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Danish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle Low German knōp (“knot”), probably via Old Saxon from a variant of Proto-Germanic *knappô (“knob, lump”), one of several kn- words related to *knuttô (“knot”). Compare Dutch knoop and Swedish knop.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /knoːb/, [kʰnoːˀb̥]

Noun[edit]

knob n or c

  1. knot (nautical unit of speed)
  2. knot (some specific type of looping of a rope)

Usage notes[edit]

In the sense speed unit, it is common gender; the plural indefinite form is knob; no definite forms. In the sense looping of a rope it is neuter gender.

Inflection[edit]

Declension of knob
neuter
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative knob knobet knob knobene
genitive knobs knobets knobs knobenes

Synonyms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Noun[edit]

knob

  1. Alternative form of knobbe
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