Knee (nē), n. [OE. kne, cneo, As. cneó, cneów; akin to OS. knio, kneo, OFries. knī, G. & D. knie, OHG. chniu, chneo, Icel. knē, Sw. knä, Dan. knæ, Goth. kniu, L. genu, Gr. go`ny, Skr. jānu, √231. Cf. Genuflection.]

1. In man, the joint in the middle part of the leg.

2. (Anat.) (a) The joint, or region of the joint, between the thigh and leg.(b) In the horse and allied animals, the carpal joint, corresponding to the wrist in man.

3. (Mech. & Shipbuilding) A piece of timber or metal formed with an angle somewhat in the shape of the human knee when bent.

4. A bending of the knee, as in respect or courtesy.

Give them title, knee, and approbation. Shak.

Knee breeches. See under Breeches. -- Knee holly, Knee holm (Bot.), butcher\s broom. -- Knee jerk (Physiol.) a jerk or kick produced by a blow or sudden strain upon the patellar tendon of the knee, which causes a sudden contraction of the quadriceps muscle; one of the so-called tendon reflexes. -- Knee joint. See in the Vocabulary. -- Knee timber, timber with knees or angles in it. -- Knee tribute, or Knee worship, tribute paid by kneeling; worship by genuflection. [Obs.] "Knee tribute yet unpaid." Milton.

Knee (nē), v. t. To supplicate by kneeling. [Obs.]

Fall down, and knee The way into his mercy. Shak

-- Webster's unabridged 1913