Meanings
- not comparableKneeling, begging or as if begging.
For god’s love do not turn away—if you have knowledge. We suppliants implore you on our knees.
1928, W[illiam] B[utler] Yeats, Sophocles’ King Oedipus: A Version of the Modern Stage, London: Macmillan and Co., […], →OCLC - figurativelynot comparableOn the verge of collapse; at the mercy of someone.
“We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn’t either,” he said.
2025 September 27, James B. Comey, quotee, “Inside the Trump Administration’s Push to Prosecute James Comey”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC2 more examples
Hungry Berbatov then converted a Giggs cross for his third before Nani slotted a fifth with Birmingham on their knees.
2011 January 22, “Man Utd 5 - 0 Birmingham”, in BBCThe accepted view is that at the end of hostilities in 1945, the railways were on their knees.
2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 38
Translations
Finnish polvillaan
- polvillaanAt the mercy of someone
French à genoux
- à genouxAt the mercy of someone
Polish na klęczkach
- na klęczkachAt the mercy of someone
Romanian în genunchi
- în genunchiAt the mercy of someone
Cite this entry
on one's knees. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20one's%20knees
“on one's knees.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20one's%20knees. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “on one's knees,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20one's%20knees.
Source: on one's knees on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.