knob

K5N1O1B3
UK/nɒb/US/nɑb/

noun

A rounded protuberance, especially one arising from a flat surface; a fleshy lump or caruncle.

CommonScrabble 10

Meanings

nounknob (plural knobs)

plural knobs

  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. AppalachiaLancashiregeographyA prominent rounded hill.

    We climbed to the top of Slate Hill, the highest knob in our town, and Ricky gave me a whole talk on how slate formed, how it was and was not shale.

    2011, John Jeremiah Sullivan, Pulphead, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, page 144
  7. in pluralslangA woman's breast.
  8. The penis; dick.
    1. slangThe head of the penis; the glans.

      Synonyms: knobhead

    2. broadlyderogatoryslangA contemptible person; a dick.

      Fearn picks Jeremy Clarkson (“absolute knob. Well-educated, 1980s BBC, and he thinks it’s a licence to say what he wants”); […]

      2023 March 5, Miranda Sawyer, quoting Andrew Fearn, “Sleaford Mods: ‘The UK is like a crazy golf course – all we’ve got left are landmarks’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
      4 more examples

      Arthur slammed his fist down on the table so hard, the cup jumped, spilling coffee. The rotten bastard means to have the guvnor’s guts. That fucking knob has never been on a live deployment in his entire life.[…]

      2013, Roger Gray, Target Trojan, page 157

      […] He must really hate those people!” my father said in an all-too audible aside to Mom. “I don’t hate them, you stupid knob!” Critch said. It’s you and your whole kind I hate!”

      2014 May, Thirteen O’Clock Press, Behind Closed Doors

      “Yes,” said Jessie, pouring herself a coffee. “The rumours are true. Birdie McBride has a big knob.” “No,” I corrected, deadpan, “I said he is a big knob,”

      2015, C. J. Cronin, chapter 29, in Assassination

      […]I let out a sigh, and then stood up, and looked toward the thief, who was still running. “Bloody knob!” I called out, and then began to wipe off the dirt and water with my sweater sleeve.

      2016 August, Zona Haselton, chapter 2, in Vengeance

      Synonyms: knobhead, knobber, assbag, assbreath, assbucket, asschunk, asscunt, assface

  9. slangvulgarThe clitoris.

    He was seriously talented, and his fingers were now sliding back and forth over her wet knob, and she was losing her mind. Almost gasping for air from the pleasure, she felt the undeniable need for her release. […] Then his fingers quickened their strokes against her swollen rose bud, […]

    2011 April, Angelica Rose, Labyrinth of Passions, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 133
    1 more example

    A hot and strong sexual odour emanated from her fanny. I extended my head and pressed my nose between her lips. I pushed my tongue into her crack and lapped up the juices. [...] Then I moved up and grasped her long clitoris in my lips and began to suck and play with it with my tongue. She thrashed around, sometimes grasping my head with her thighs, sometimes opening her legs as wide as she could, pushing my away while gripping my head in her hands and urging me on. Through it all I kept my grip on her knob until her orgasm began to subside.

    2009 July, Angela Meadows, The Education of Victoria, Headline, →ISBN
  10. cookingA dollop, an amount just larger than a spoonful (usually referring to butter).
  11. A chunky branch-like piece, especially of a ginger rhizome.

    Place whole, unpeeled knobs of ginger in a zipper-lock freezer bag for up to 3 months. Slice or break off what you need and return the rest to the freezer.

    2001, David Joachim, The Clever Cook's Kitchen Handbook
  12. A bulb of the garlic plant consisting of multiple cloves.
  13. USslangA freshman at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina.

    Day 1 at the South Carolina Military Academy is filled with the academy’s trademarks - the Guidon, the five basic commands, and a knob haircut.

    2021 June, James Wigfall, Standing Tall
    2 more examples

    Males voices, raised in anger, screamed at an unseen freshman. One voice demanded to know the rank on each jacket. “Hey, smack, what rank is this cadet uniform? Answer me, knob! Don’t you know, knob? What’s wrong, are you stupid, knob? For the first time since arriving at The Citadel, I fought to keep back tears. Exhausted from an hour of nonstop harassment, I was caught off guard by the sound of a boy sobbing behind me.

    2002 September, Nancy Mace, Mary Jane Ross, In the Company of Men: A Woman at the Citadel, page 44

    “You went to The Citadel?” her mother chimed in. “I’ve heard so many great things about that institution. Did you go through a plebe year?” I told her I did and that we called it the knob year because freshman cadets had to shave their heads bald to resemble the butt end of a door knob and keep it that way for an entire ten months while going through the process of being broken down, only to be built back up.

    2018 October, Joe Crochet, My Winning Seasons: Discovering the Champion Within, page 3
verbknob (third-person singular simple present knobs, present participle knobbing, simple past and past participle knobbed)

present singular third person knobs · participle present knobbing · participle past knobbed · past knobbed

  1. intransitiveprotrude
  2. transitivefurnish or produce with a knob, knobble
  3. UKslangtransitivevulgarTo have sex with.

    Had Jack knobbed her as well? Molly wondered.

    2013, Sarah-Kate Lynch, Finding Tom Connor
    1 more example

    One morning, maybe three weeks after my last grapple with Penny, Thomson came roaring into our form room. ‘Oi, Fleming, you spastic. Guess who I knobbed last night?’

    1995, Nick Hornby, High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 17

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe head of the penis; the glans.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

nouna circular rounded projection or protuberance

Similar
Broader

nounany thickened enlargement

Broader
convex shapeconvexity

nounan ornament in the shape of a ball on the hilt of a sword or dagger

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Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Germanic*knappô“knob, lump”
  2. Old Norseknappr“small projection, knob (button, head of a stick, etc.)”
  3. Old Englishcnæp
  4. Proto-Germanic*knappô“knob, lump”
  5. Middle Low Germanknobbe“knob, knot in wood, bud”
  6. Middle Englishknobbe
  7. Englishknob

From Middle English knobbe, from Middle Low German knobbe (“knob, knot in wood, bud”), probably ultimately from a variant of Proto-Germanic *knappô (“knob, lump”), one of several kn- words related to *knudaną (“to knead”). Compare Middle Dutch knobbe, cnoppe, Middle Low German knobbe (“knob, knot in wood”), knubbe, Dutch knop (“knob, button, bud”), Old Frisian knopp, knapp, Old High German knopf (“bud, pommel of a sword, knot, loop”), Middle High German knospe, German Knopf (“button, knob”), Knospe (“bud”), Danish knap (“button”), knop (“knob, button, bud”), Faroese knappur (“button”), Icelandic hnappur (“button”), Norn knapp (“round button”), knubbi (“potato”), snapp (“knob, round top”), Norwegian and Swedish knapp (“button”), Norwegian knopp (“bud”), Swedish knopp (“bud, knob”), Finnish nappi (“button, knob”), nuppi (“knob, pommel”), Old Norse knyfill (“short horn”). Also compare Middle English knap, knappe (“small projection, knob (button, tassel, tuft, etc.), hill, hilltop, etc.)”), from Old English cnæp, cnæpp (“summit, top”), which is possibly related to Old Norse knappr (“small projection, knob (button, head of a stick, etc.)”) (whence English knop), from Proto-Germanic *knappô (“knob, lump”), *knuppô (“lump, clod”). Cognate with Dutch knob, knobbel (“knob”), German Knubbe, Knubbel (“knob”). See also knop. For the sense of a rounded hill, see nab and knab.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek τύλος
  • τύλος (túlos)rounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
Bulgarian заоблен хълм
  • заоблен хълм (zaoblen hălm)a prominent rounded hill
Catalan pom, mànec
  • pomrounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • mànecrounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
Czech otočný knoflík, kolečko
  • otočný knoflíkrounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • kolečkorounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • čudlíkrounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
Dutch knop
  • knoprounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
Esperanto anso
  • ansorounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
Finnish nuppi
  • nuppirounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
French noix, poignée
  • noixin cooking, an amount just larger than a spoonful, usually of butter
  • poignéerounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • boutonrounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • pommeaurounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • nœudthe penis
German Knopf, Knauf
  • Knopfrounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • Knaufrounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • Drehknopfrounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • Drehschalterrounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • Schalterrounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
Indonesian kenop
  • kenoprounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
Irish cnap, pilibín
  • cnapin cooking, an amount just larger than a spoonful, usually of butter
  • pilibínthe penis
Italian protuberanza, maniglia
  • protuberanzaa prominent rounded hill
  • manigliarounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • manopolarounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • pomellorounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
Latin bulla, nodus
  • bullarounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • nodusrounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
Māori tuapuke, reke
  • tuapukea prominent rounded hill
  • rekerounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • pūrekerounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • kourounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • tīngoingoirounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • whakangarengarerounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • pūrorirounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • tonerounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
Polish gałka
  • gałkarounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
Portuguese calombo, manopla
  • calomborounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • manoplarounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • pomorounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
Russian ру́чка, вы́пуклость
  • ру́чка (rúčka)rounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • вы́пуклость (výpuklostʹ)rounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
Spanish perilla, asa
  • perillarounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
  • asarounded protuberance, handle, or control switch
Turkish topuz
  • topuzrounded protuberance, handle, or control switch

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with knob

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Sounds the same

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

knob. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knob

MLA

“knob.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knob. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “knob,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knob.

Source: knob on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.