knurl

K5N1U1R1L1
UK/nɜːl/US/nɝl/

noun

A contorted knot in wood.

OriginMiddle English knarre ← Old Norse knǫrr →
Scrabble 9
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Meanings

nounknurl (plural knurls)

plural knurls

  1. A contorted knot in wood.
  2. A crossgrained protuberance; a nodule; a boss or projection.
  3. A lined or crossgrained pattern of ridges or indentations rolled or pressed into a part for grip.
verbknurl (third-person singular simple present knurls, present participle knurling, simple past and past participle knurled)

present singular third person knurls · participle present knurling · participle past knurled · past knurled

  1. To roll or press a pattern of ridges or indentations into a part for grip.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
knar

Origin

  1. Old Norseknǫrr
  2. Middle Englishknarre“knot in wood”
  3. Englishknurl

From knur + -le (“diminutive”), from Middle English knarre (“knot in wood”), earlier sense “a stone”, likely influenced by Old Norse knǫrr. gnarl is a later variant, from gnarled, via knurled.

More words from Middle English, Old Norse

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian чвор
  • чвор (čvor)contorted knot in wood
Catalan gràfila
  • gràfilagrip pattern
Finnish pyällys
  • pyällysgrip pattern
French moletage
  • moletagegrip pattern
German Rändelung, Riffelung
  • Rändelunggrip pattern
  • Riffelunggrip pattern
Polish radełkowanie, moletowanie
  • radełkowaniegrip pattern
  • moletowaniegrip pattern
  • ryflowaniegrip pattern
Russian нака́тка
  • нака́тка (nakátka)grip pattern
Spanish grafila
  • grafilagrip pattern
Swedish räffla
  • räfflagrip pattern

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with knurl

earlcurlswirlmerlefurlwhirlSearleburlgurlhurlpurlwhorltwirlshirlcatgirlunfurlawhirlthurlSerleaswirlatwirlbirldemigirldiapergirl
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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