KNUCKLES

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does knuckles mean? 

• KNUCKLES (noun)
  The noun KNUCKLES has 1 sense:

1. (used in the plural) a small metal weapon; worn over the knuckles on the back of the hand

  Familiarity information: KNUCKLES used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• KNUCKLES (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(used in the plural) a small metal weapon; worn over the knuckles on the back of the hand

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

brass knuckles; brass knucks; knuckle duster; knuckles; knucks

Hypernyms ("knuckles" is a kind of...):

arm; weapon; weapon system (any instrument or instrumentality used in fighting or hunting)

Domain usage:

plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)

 Context examples 

He held out his hand, and I saw in the light of the lamp that two of his knuckles were burst and bleeding.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They say he could chalk his billiard-cue with his knuckles.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"You passed 'em to him, you red-head sneakin' in behind the push there," Martin went on, as he tossed the knuckles into the water.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

My own accidental cut across the knuckles was a flea-bite.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The knuckles were skinned and inflamed clear across, the fingers swollen, the nails rimmed with black.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Thornton rapped Hal’s knuckles with the axe-handle, knocking the knife to the ground.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Instinctively the clasp on his wife's hand grew closer, till his knuckles looked white.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

He led at Berks’s head, as he came rushing in, and missed him, receiving a severe body blow in return, which left the imprint of four angry knuckles above his ribs.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mr. Micawber, with a perfect miracle of dexterity or luck, caught his advancing knuckles with the ruler, and disabled his right hand.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

When I was as old as you, I was a feeling fellow enough, partial to the unfledged, unfostered, and unlucky; but Fortune has knocked me about since: she has even kneaded me with her knuckles, and now I flatter myself I am hard and tough as an India-rubber ball; pervious, though, through a chink or two still, and with one sentient point in the middle of the lump.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)