knuckle under

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

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Verb

knuckle under (third-person singular simple present knuckles under, present participle knuckling under, simple past and past participle knuckled under)

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To cooperate or yield when forced or pressured to do so.

   Synonym: fall in line

   • 1907, John Galsworthy, “Acute Attack of—‘Pendycitis’”, in The Country House, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, part III, page 286:

     The man is a ruffian. I won't knuckle under to him!

Translations

to cooperate or yield when forced or pressured to do so

• Spanish: doblar el espinazo

References

• “knuckle under”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.