Synonyms for knuckle under

Grammar : Verb

Spell : nuhk-uh l

Phonetic Transcription : ˈnʌk əl

Définition of knuckle under

Origin : mid-14c., knokel "finger joint; any joint of the body, especially a knobby one; morbid lump or swelling;" common Germanic (cf. Middle Low German knökel, Middle Dutch cnockel, German knöchel), literally "little bone," a diminutive of Proto-Germanic root *knuck- "bone" (cf. German Knochen "bone).
As a verb from 1740, originally in the game of marbles. To knuckle down "apply oneself earnestly" is 1864 in American English, extended from marbles (putting a knuckle on the ground in assuming the hand position preliminary to shooting); to knuckle under "submit, give in" is first recorded 1740, supposedly from the former more general sense of "knuckle" and here meaning "knee," hence "to kneel." The face-busting knuckle-duster is from 1858 (a duster was a type of protective coat worn by workmen).

verb give in

Example sentences :

Now, I'm ready any time to knuckle under to a man that's better'n I am.
Extract from : « Anderson Crow, Detective » by George Barr McCutcheon

I'm not going to knuckle under to Louis and his beastly Jews—with a chance like that.
Extract from : « The Creators » by May Sinclair

Come, Gildy, knuckle under and eat your humble-pie like a man.
Extract from : « Rejected of Men » by Howard Pyle

Ill not knuckle under till I have to, said Gilderman, savagely.
Extract from : « Rejected of Men » by Howard Pyle

On no account would he knuckle under, and debase his sacred profession.
Extract from : « The Graftons » by Archibald Marshall

I'd like you to have seen them knuckle under before I left off dealing with them.'
Extract from : « Nevermore » by Rolf Boldrewood

"Oh, the kid will knuckle under, that's certain," snarled Bassett.
Extract from : « Thirty » by Howard Vincent O'Brien

If they think we're going to knuckle under to them they're very much mistaken.
Extract from : « For the School Colours » by Angela Brazil

We had to knuckle under the whole of the time, to the civil authorities.
Extract from : « The Kingdom of the Blind » by E. Phillips Oppenheim

Don't want no woman that kin make horse-flesh like that knuckle under.
Extract from : « Madelon » by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

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Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019