knee

/ni/

/ni/

Other forms: knees

Your knee is the joint in your leg that joins your thigh with your shin, making it possible for you to bend your leg. Without knees, you'd walk like a Barbie doll on very stiff legs.

The knee connects your tibia, or shinbone, to your femur, or thighbone. Although their bodies are arranged in different ways, there are other animals with knees, including horses, donkeys, giraffes, and deer. You can also use the word knee to mean the part of your pants that covers your actual knee: "I always get a hole in the knee of my jeans." A "knee-slapper" is a joke so funny it makes you laugh out loud.

Definitions of knee

1. noun

   hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
   synonyms: articulatio genus, genu, human knee, knee joint

   type of:

   ginglymoid joint, ginglymus, hinge joint

   a freely moving joint in which the bones are so articulated as to allow extensive movement in one plane
2. noun

   joint between the femur and tibia in a quadruped; corresponds to the human knee
   synonyms: stifle

   type of:

   articulatio, articulation, joint

   (anatomy) the point of connection between two bones or elements of a skeleton (especially if it allows motion)
3. noun

   the part of a trouser leg that provides the cloth covering for the knee
   type of:

   cloth covering

   a covering made of cloth