knead
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English kneden, from Old English cnedan, from Proto-West Germanic *knedan, from Proto-Germanic *knudaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gnet- (“to press together”).
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
knead (third-person singular simple present kneads, present participle kneading, simple past kneaded or (obsolete) knead, past participle kneaded or (archaic) kneaden or (obsolete) knodden)
- (transitive) To work and press into a mass, usually with the hands; especially, to work, as by repeated pressure with the knuckles, into a well mixed mass, the materials of bread, cake, etc.
- 2001, Özcan Ozan; Carl Tremblay, The Sultan's Kitchen: A Turkish Cookbook:
- Knead the dough by pressing down on it with the heels of both your palms and pushing it forward to stretch it, then pulling it back toward you...
- (transitive, figuratively) To treat or form as if by kneading; to beat.
- c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
- I will knead him: I'll make him supple.
- (intransitive, felinology) Of cats, to make an alternating pressing motion with the two front paws.
- 1991, Grace McHattie, That's cats!: a compendium of feline facts:
- Cats knead with their paws when happy, just as they kneaded when feeding from their mothers as kittens.
- (transitive) To mix thoroughly; form into a homogeneous compound.
SynonymsEdit
- (mix): amalgamate
TranslationsEdit
to work and press into a mass
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(of cats) to press on a surface to relax
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NounEdit
knead (plural kneads)
- The act of kneading something.
- 2011, Andrew Whitley, Bread Matters:
- Do not expect the dough to be very manageable even after a good knead.