Meanings
noundoorknob (plural doorknobs)
plural doorknobs · alternative door knob · alternative door-knob
- A circular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of the door.
A doorknob of whatever roundish shape is effectively a continuum of levers, with the axis of the latching mechanism—known as the spindle—being the fulcrum about which the turning takes place.
2012 March 28, Henry Petroski, “Opening Doors”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, pages 112–3
verbdoorknob (third-person singular simple present doorknobs, present participle doorknobbing, simple past and past participle doorknobbed)
present singular third person doorknobs · participle present doorknobbing · participle past doorknobbed · past doorknobbed · alternative door knob · alternative door-knob
- intransitive(especially psychiatry) To suddenly bring up a time-consuming topic when very little time remains to discuss it, often as a tactic to avoid conversation.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna knob used to release the catch when opening a door (often called ‘doorhandle’ in Great Britain)
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Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Arabic مِقْبَض اَلْبَاب
- مِقْبَض اَلْبَاب (miqbaḍ al-bāb)circular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Catalan pom
- pomcircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Chinese Mandarin 門把手 /门把手, 門把 /门把
- 門把手 /门把手 (mén bǎshǒu)circular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
- 門把 /门把 (ménbà)circular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Czech klika
- klikacircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Danish dørhåndtag, dørgreb
- dørhåndtagcircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
- dørgrebcircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Dutch deurknop
- deurknopcircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Esperanto pordanso, pordobutono
- pordansocircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
- pordobutonocircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
- butonocircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Finnish ovennuppi, ovenkahva
- ovennuppicircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
- ovenkahvacircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
French bouton de porte, clenche
- bouton de portecircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
- clenchecircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
- poignée de portecircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
German Türknauf, Türknopf
- Türknaufcircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
- Türknopfcircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Greek πόμολο, χερούλι
- πόμολο (pómolo)circular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
- χερούλι (cheroúli)circular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Hungarian kilincs
- kilincscircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Icelandic húnn
- húnncircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Irish murlán dorais, úll dorais
- murlán doraiscircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
- úll doraiscircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Italian pomello
- pomellocircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Japanese ドアノブ, ドアハンドル
- ドアノブ (doanobu)circular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
- ドアハンドル (doahandoru)circular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Korean 문손잡이, 손잡이
- 문손잡이 (munsonjabi)circular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
- 손잡이 (sonjabi)circular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Māori pōrori
- pōroricircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Norwegian Bokmål dørhåndtak, dørvrider
- dørhåndtakcircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
- dørvridercircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Polish klamka
- klamkacircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Portuguese maçaneta
- maçanetacircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Russian дверна́я ру́чка, ру́чка две́ри
- дверна́я ру́чка (dvernája rúčka)circular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
- ру́чка две́ри (rúčka dvéri)circular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Spanish perilla, pomo
- perillacircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
- pomocircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
- pomo de la puertacircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
- picaportecircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Swedish dörrhandtag
- dörrhandtagcircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Tagalog tumbol
- tumbolcircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Thai ลูกบิด
- ลูกบิด (lûuk-bìt)circular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Turkish tokmak
- tokmakcircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Vietnamese tay nắm cửa, nắm đấm cửa
- tay nắm cửacircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
- nắm đấm cửacircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Welsh bwlyn drws, dwrn drws
- bwlyn drwscircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
- dwrn drwscircular device attached to a door, the rotation of which permits the unlatching of a door
Cite this entry
APA
doorknob. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doorknob
MLA
“doorknob.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doorknob. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “doorknob,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doorknob.
Source: doorknob on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.