knob

Meaning

Noun

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. (Appalachia) A prominent rounded hill.
7. (in-plural, slang) A woman's breast.
8. (slang) The penis; dick.
9. (broadly, derogatory, slang) The penis; dick.
10. (slang, vulgar) The clitoris.
11. A dollop, an amount just larger than a spoonful (usually referring to butter).
12. A chunky branch-like piece, especially of a ginger rhizome.
13. A bulb of the garlic plant consisting of multiple cloves.
14. (US, slang) A freshman at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina.

Verb

1. (intransitive) protrude
2. (transitive) furnish or produce with a knob, knobble
3. (British, slang, transitive, vulgar) To have sex with.

Synonyms

handle

button

bump

protuberance

lump

node

knot

🪢

pommel

grip

boss

gnarl

swelling

tuber

haft

switch

excrescence

thickening

hilt

nub

hammer

🔨

gavel

bulge

doorknob

stud

prominence

hump

protrusion

tumour

nob

mall

mallet

knurl

lever

head

ball

nodule

maul

nipple

wart

beetle

🪲

pimple

bunch

blotch

extrusion

knop

knoll

edema

bend

attic

kink

Translations

Knopf

Knauf

manopola

poignée

Griff

Knoten

🪢

knobbel

pommeau

knoest

bouton

pomo

Beule

Knolle

💡

heft

knol

Pronounced as (IPA)

/nɒb/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: knobbe

Cognate with Dutch: knob

Cognate with German: Knubbe

In summary

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 *knudaną (“to knead”).
Cognate with Dutch knob, knobbel (“knob”), German Knubbe, Knubbel (“knob”). See also knop. For the sense of a rounded hill, see nab and knab.