knob

Etymology

From Middle English knobbe, from Middle Low German knobbe (“knob; knot in wood”), probably via Old Saxon from a variant of Proto-Germanic *knappô (“knob, lump”), one of several kn- words related to *knuttô (“knot”). Cognate with Dutch knob, knobbel (“knob”), German Knubbe, Knubbel (“knob”). See also knop.

noun

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. (geography) A 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. (slang, chiefly in the plural) A woman's breast.
8. (vulgar, slang, chiefly UK) The penis; dick.
   1. The head of the penis; the glans.
   2. (by extension, derogatory) A contemptible person; dick.
      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
      Fearn picks Jeremy Clarkson (“absolute knob. Well-educated, 1980s BBC, and he thinks it’s a licence to say what he wants”); […] 2023-03-05, 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
9. (vulgar, slang) The clitoris.
   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
   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, page 133
10. (cooking) A 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. (slang, US) A freshman at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina.
    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
    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

verb

1. (Britain, slang, vulgar, transitive, of a man) To have sex with.
   Had Jack knobbed her as well? Molly wondered. 2013, Sarah-Kate Lynch, Finding Tom Connor