Meanings
verbknuckle under (third-person singular simple present knuckles under, present participle knuckling under, simple past and past participle knuckled under)
present singular third person knuckles under · participle present knuckling under · participle past knuckled under · past knuckled under
- idiomaticintransitiveTo cooperate or yield when forced or pressured to do so.
The man is a ruffian. I won't knuckle under to him!
1907, John Galsworthy, “Acute Attack of—‘Pendycitis’”, in The Country House, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, part III, page 286Synonyms: fall in line
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo cooperate or yield when forced or pressured to do so.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Spanish doblar el espinazo
- doblar el espinazoto cooperate or yield when forced or pressured to do so
Cite this entry
APA
knuckle under. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knuckle%20under
MLA
“knuckle under.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knuckle%20under. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “knuckle under,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knuckle%20under.
Source: knuckle under on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.