knurly

comparative knurlier · comparative more knurly · superlative knurliest · superlative most knurly

1. Gnarled or knotty; hard and misshapen.

   "Well, I swow!" ejaculated the Cap'n, rubbing his knurly forefinger under his nose, and glancing first at the parrots and then at the lady.

   1911, Holman Day, The Skipper and the Skipped

   1 more example

   It seems too much like a great tree, beautiful, symmetrical, and full of leaves, but raised or desired only for fruit, yet bearing little, and some of that little not of good quality, but knurly or bitter.

   1851, Goold Brown, The Grammar of English Grammars