"Knuckle" Quotes from Famous Books
... she'll founder in deep water if he backs her off the ground." A tiny spit of flame, pale against the moonlight, jerked out from under the awnings of the steamer's upper bridge. The noise of the shot came some time afterward, no louder than the cracking of a knuckle. "By James! somebody's getting his gun into use pretty quick. Well, it's some one else's trouble, and not mine, and I guess I'm going to stay on the beach, and watch, and not meddle." He frowned angrily as though some one had made a suggestion to him. "No, by James! I'm not one of those that ... — A Master of Fortune • Cutcliffe Hyne
... Ischia in exchange for it, and chose it as his favourite refuge from the excessive heat. Suetonius gives a pleasant gossiping picture of the old man's life in his short holidays there, his delight in idly listening to the prattle of his Moorish and Syrian slave-boys as they played knuckle-bones on the beach, his enjoyment of the cool breeze which swept through his villa even in summer or of the cool plash of water from the fountain in the peristyle, his curiosity about the big fossil bones dug up in the island which he ... — Stray Studies from England and Italy • John Richard Green
... said, as he put a bleeding knuckle to his lips. "Don't make much difference, I should think, whether you fall one hundred feet or five. Bother! I wish I did not keep ... — Cutlass and Cudgel • George Manville Fenn
... to the bones corresponding to the middle and ring finger, and occurs between the knuckle and the wrist, appearing as a swelling on the back of the hand. On looking at the closed fist it will be seen that the knuckle corresponding to the broken bone in the back of the hand has ceased to be prominent, ... — The Home Medical Library, Volume I (of VI) • Various
... Two of the older boys play at knuckle-bones, others whip spinning-tops, and a little naked girl runs behind supporting herself with a stick, on the head of which is carved a bird. The procession is brought up by the queen- mother, who carries the youngest baby and ... — Legends Of Babylon And Egypt - In Relation To Hebrew Tradition • Leonard W. King
... having a pair of handcuffs which are too small or too large; and when the latter is the case, and the prisoner gets the "bracelets" in his hands instead of on his wrists, he is then in possession of a knuckle-duster from which the bravest would not care to ... — The Strand Magazine: Volume VII, Issue 37. January, 1894. - An Illustrated Monthly • Edited by George Newnes
... careful attention. It may be made of beef alone, but, if desired very rich for a special dinner, requires the addition of either a chicken or a knuckle of veal. Allow, then, for the best soup, a soup-bone,—the shin of beef being most desirable,—weighing from two to three pounds; a chicken; a slice of fat ham; two onions, each stuck with three cloves; one small carrot ... — The Easiest Way in Housekeeping and Cooking - Adapted to Domestic Use or Study in Classes • Helen Campbell
... letters and gave up our identification discs and were served with persuader sticks or knuckle ... — A Yankee in the Trenches • R. Derby Holmes
... island, on the lip of the fall and walled about with wild rapids, there could be no escape. The situation was not satisfactory from any point of view. But that it was clear against his principles to knuckle down, under any conditions, to beast, or man, or fate, the woodsman might have permitted himself to wish that, after all, his ice-cake had missed the island. As it was, however, he took another bite from his plug of "blackjack," and set himself to ... — The Watchers of the Trails - A Book of Animal Life • Charles G. D. Roberts
... its work has made a type not only of clothes but of face. Their answers to the usual questions were all the same, and one felt in talking to them that their opinions were machine-made. Three points stood out—Germany is right and will win; England is wrong and will knuckle under; we hate England because we are alike in religion, custom, and opinion, and it is the war of kindred races. Everywhere one met the arguments and stories of unfairness and cruelty in fighting that have ... — New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 2, May, 1915 - April-September, 1915 • Various
... manufacture it. And now poor Gubbins had more to learn! It may seem very easy to turn a crank, to pump, to shoulder a box, to help carry a bale, or to push at a capstan bar, and this certainly is not skilled labour. Yet there is a way of doing each of these things in a painful, laborious, knuckle- cutting, shoulder-bruising, toe-smashing manner, and a comparatively ... — For Fortune and Glory - A Story of the Soudan War • Lewis Hough
... I did arter breakfast," ses Sam, "I took that di'mond ring to a pawnshop and found out it wasn't a di'mond ring. Then I did a bit more thinking, and I went round to a shop I know and bought a couple o' knuckle-dusters." ... — Sailor's Knots (Entire Collection) • W.W. Jacobs
... functioned muscularly, for when I left Tobias gave me a knuckle-crushing grip which made it necessary to write this ... — The Goat-gland Transplantation • Sydney B. Flower
... could get on withaat em! It ud have to do if they wor deead; They may be sincere but aw daat em, If they're honest, they're wrang i' ther heead. They've all some pet doctrine, an wonder Why fowk wi ther plans disagree, They expect yo should all knuckle under, But aw wodn't for all ... — Yorkshire Lyrics • John Hartley
... five men under him. They was all hell-benders who had ridden the range alone and had their share of fights and killings, which there wasn't one of 'em that wouldn't have been good enough to go leader in any other crew, but they had to knuckle under to old Piotto. He was a great gunman and he was pretty good in scheming up ways of dodging the law and picking the best booty. He had these five men, and then he had his daughter, Joan. She was ... — Trailin'! • Max Brand
... seen me first and knocked my gun out of my hands with the butt of his. It got me mad, because it is a new gun and I am taking fine care of it; so I clanched him'—that's what Squat says, clanched. 'And, first, he run his finger into my right eye, clear up to the knuckle it felt like; so I didn't say a word, but hauled off quick and landed a hard right on the side of his jaw and dropped him just like that. It was one peach I handed him and he slumped down like a sack of mush. I am here to tell ... — Ma Pettengill • Harry Leon Wilson
... threatened her with it? She just says that she'd rather die or go to prison than go back on her convictions and knuckle under to me. If she could only forget that she'd ever met ... — Rebels of the Red Planet • Charles Louis Fontenay
... door. He stooped and picked it up quickly. It was the sealed scroll Atossa had left there when she needed both her hands to draw the bolt. Darius took it to one of the narrow windows, looked at it curiously and broke the seal. Zoroaster stood near and wiped the blood from his bruised knuckle. ... — Marzio's Crucifix and Zoroaster • F. Marion Crawford
... pudgy hand, in its inevitable glove, that had fixed so firm a gripe on the back of the mahogany chair as to strain open one of the fingers of the tight, tawny kid-glove worn by Dr. Englehart. This had parted slightly just above the knuckle of the front-finger, and revealed the cotton stuffing within. Nay, more, the ruby ring with its peculiar device was thus exposed, which graced the slender finger of the charlatan! I do not apply this term as concerned the profession he affected ... — Sea and Shore - A Sequel to "Miriam's Memoirs" • Mrs. Catharine A. Warfield
... pounds of veal (the knuckle or neck will do). Put over fire in one gallon of cold water, without salt. Cover tightly and simmer slowly, until the meat will slip from the bones, not allowing it to boil all the strength out, as the meat can be made into a nice dish for breakfast or luncheon, by ... — Favorite Dishes • Carrie V. Shuman
... will stand out every way, and be attracted by an approaching finger. And when the rain has wetted the kite and twine, so that it can conduct the electric fire freely, you will find it stream out plentifully from the key on the approach of your knuckle. At this key the vial may be charged; and from electric fire thus obtained, spirits may be kindled, and all the other electric experiments be performed, which are usually done by the help of a rubbed glass globe or tube, and thereby the sameness of the electric matter with that of lightning ... — The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. IX (of X) - America - I • Various
... of this," he would go on, "and I'll close my account. As it is, I think I will remove my patronage to a firm which will treat me civilly. Why, sir, I've never heard anything like it in all my experience." Upon which the man would knuckle under and go away forgiven, with a large ... — Love Among the Chickens - A Story of the Haps and Mishaps on an English Chicken Farm • P. G. Wodehouse
... demanded Neil. "I ain't no coward, even if Jay is. I don't knuckle under to any man. You got a right to ante up with some information. I want to know why you ain't got them papers you promised to ... — Bucky O'Connor • William MacLeod Raine
... from the barn to see what was going on. With him was another Shimerda son. Even from a distance one could see that there was something strange about this boy. As he approached us, he began to make uncouth noises, and held up his hands to show us his fingers, which were webbed to the first knuckle, like a duck's foot. When he saw me draw back, he began to crow delightedly, "Hoo, hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo!" like a rooster. His mother scowled and said sternly, "Marek!" then spoke rapidly to ... — My Antonia • Willa Sibert Cather
... to unpleasantness. A school prefect of Eckleton was supposed to be hedged about with so much dignity that he could quell turbulent inferiors with a glance. The idea of one of the august body lowering himself to the extent of emphasising his authority with the bare knuckle would ... — The Head of Kay's • P. G. Wodehouse
... heavenward "on flowery beds of ease" while it lasted. There is very little ease where Theodore Roosevelt leads, as we all of us found out. The lawbreaker found it out who predicted scornfully that he would "knuckle down to politics the way they all did," and lived to respect him, though he swore at him, as the one of them all who was stronger than pull. The peace-loving citizen who hastened to Police Headquarters with anxious entreaties to "use discretion" in the enforcement ... — The Making of an American • Jacob A. Riis
... under ditches and bushes, but to preserve good neighbourhood and peace; and finding likewise, that the AEtolian dogs might be of some use in the low offices of life, they passed a decree, that the natives should be entitled to the short ribs, tops of back, knuckle-bones, and guts of all the game, which they were obliged by their masters to run down. This condition was accepted, and what was a little singular, while the Molossian dogs kept a good understanding among themselves, living in peace ... — The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Vol. VII - Historical and Political Tracts—Irish • Jonathan Swift
... comparatively common. When they result from direct violence, such as a crush between two heavy objects, they are often multiple and compound. Indirect violence, acting in the long axis of the bone and increasing its natural curve, such as a blow on the knuckle in striking with the closed fist, usually produces an oblique fracture about the middle of the shaft, the proximal end of the distal fragment projecting towards the dorsum. Apart from this there is little deformity, as the adjacent metacarpals act as natural ... — Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities—Head—Neck. Sixth Edition. • Alexander Miles
... in the following manner:—A circle should be drawn about four feet in diameter, and an inner circle of about six inches being also marked out in its centre, into this each boy puts a marble. "Now then, boys, knuckle down at the offing, which is in any part of the outer circle. Now, whoever shoots a marble out of the ring is entitled to go on again: so mind your shots; a good shot may clear the ring. After the first shot, the players do not shoot from the offing, but from the place where the marble ... — The Book of Sports: - Containing Out-door Sports, Amusements and Recreations, - Including Gymnastics, Gardening & Carpentering • William Martin
... the barn, leavin' me shakin' with his jolt. He was game all right! He figured me out as the prodigal son, and wa'n't goin' to knuckle. He intended for me to do all the knee exercise. I drifted along up the path toward ... — They of the High Trails • Hamlin Garland
... knuckle very submissively to your lordship's argument. The fact is, that the said Sir CUMMERBUND, on hearing my answers when I was acting in the capacity of a harrowed toad under my friend WITHERINGTON'S cross-examination, very handsomely ... — Baboo Jabberjee, B.A. • F. Anstey
... deck, and roared with laughter to see his miserable yellow face, and the way in which he screwed up his eyes. But it was only three days before when I was really ill that Tom was strutting about the deck ridiculing sea-sickness, and telling me what a poor sort of a fellow I was to knuckle under to ... — The Golden Magnet • George Manville Fenn
... knuckle, without her door. It was impossible, impossible. A wild thought of rushing in and killing her as she slept rose in my mind. And then, in a flash, the better solution came to me. All hands were asleep. Why not creep aboard the Ghost,—well I knew the way to Wolf Larsen's bunk,—and ... — The Sea-Wolf • Jack London
... into the stemmer, a machine which tears off the stems, discharging them at one end, while the seeds, skins, pulp and juice pass through the bottom to the presses usually on the floor below. There are several types of wine-presses, all of which, however, are modifications of screw, hydraulic or knuckle-joint power. In large wineries, the hydraulic press has almost driven out the other two forms of power and when great quantities of grapes must be handled a number of hydraulic presses are usually in operation. The grape pomace is built up into a "cheese" by the use of cloths and ... — Manual of American Grape-Growing • U. P. Hedrick
... the brandy, you can have that in a jiffy—but the steak, Lord love you, the old ooman won't stand it at this time; but there's a cold round, mayhap a slice of that might do—or a knuckle of ham?" ... — Rookwood • William Harrison Ainsworth
... knuckle of veal till fit for eating, with two onions, a few isinglass shavings, a bunch of herbs, a blade of mace, and a few peppercorns, in three pints of water. Keep the broth for the pie. Take off a bit of the meat for the balls, and let the other be eaten; but simmer the bones in the broth ... — The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches, • Mary Eaton
... minute he had both paws working overtime and such a knuckle twisting no mortal man ever indulged ... — You Should Worry Says John Henry • George V. Hobart
... friend Audley Egerton. You have just had a glimpse of the real being that struggles under the huge copper; you have heard the hollow sound of the rich man's coffers under the tap of Baron Levy's friendly knuckle, heard the strong man's heart give out its dull warning sound to the scientific ear of Dr. F——-. And away once more vanishes the separate existence, lost again in the flame that heats the boiler, and the smoke that curls into air from the ... — My Novel, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton
... all forgotten like his studies of African dialects, his discoveries, and observations. One story will give an idea of all that he passed through. Once for several days the children of the sheikh of the tribe amused themselves by putting him up for a mark and flinging horses' knuckle-bones at ... — The Thirteen • Honore de Balzac
... not in figure, my cook has made all this out of a hog! It would be simply impossible to meet up with a more valuable fellow: he'd make you a fish out of a sow's coynte, if that's what you wanted, a pigeon out of her lard, a turtle-dove out of her ham, and a hen out of a knuckle of pork: that's why I named him Daedalus, in a happy moment. I brought him a present of knives, from Rome, because he's so smart; they're made of Noric steel, too." He ordered them brought in immediately, and looked them over, with admiration, ... — The Satyricon, Complete • Petronius Arbiter
... my speech. I know how to deal with Kanakas: give them plain sense and fair dealing, and—I’ll do them that much justice—they knuckle under every time. They haven’t any real government or any real law, that’s what you’ve got to knock into their heads; and even if they had, it would be a good joke if it was to apply to a white man. It would be a strange thing if we came all this way and couldn’t do what we pleased. The ... — Island Nights' Entertainments • Robert Louis Stevenson
... and hard weather, and hard work, make it trying now and then. I see, bless your soul! No wonder! Dolf, my man," continued Mr. Tetterby, exploring the basin with a fork, "here's your mother been and bought, at the cook's shop, besides pease pudding, a whole knuckle of a lovely roast leg of pork, with lots of crackling left upon it, and with seasoning gravy and mustard quite unlimited. Hand in your plate, my boy, and begin ... — The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargin • Charles Dickens
... of "jacks" also lays claim to a noble ancestry. In Mr. St. John's work on The Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece, he informs us that the game was a classical one, and called pentalitha. It was played with five astragals—knuckle-bones, pebbles, or little balls—which were thrown up into the air, and then attempted to be caught when falling on the back of the hand. Another Irish game, "pricking the loop," in Greece is called himantiliginos, pricking the garter. Hemestertius supposes the Gordian Knot to have been nothing ... — An Illustrated History of Ireland from AD 400 to 1800 • Mary Frances Cusack
... of the room rush toward him—felt it strike him dizzy; and he lay wondering what had happened. Gradually he became aware of a great tumult about him, and he knew he was vitally concerned. His idea of fighting happened to centre in a knuckle-duster with an ugly dagger on the end of it. He drew it mechanically before his scattered wits told him ... — The Return of Blue Pete • Luke Allan
... happened, that on the pleasant Sunday afternoons, when we had disposed of our small, but often sumptuous dinner; perhaps a gigot de mouton with a clove of garlic in the knuckle; a fricassee de lapins with onions, or a fricandeau, Panpan himself would tell me part of his history; and in the course of our salad; of our little dessert of fresh fruit, or currant jelly; or perhaps, stimulated ... — A Tramp's Wallet - stored by an English goldsmith during his wanderings in Germany and France • William Duthie
... from a beam. A farthing candle, stuck in a bottle neck, shed its feeble light upon the table, which, owing to the provident kindness of Mr. Wood, was much better furnished with eatables than might have been expected, and boasted a loaf, a knuckle of ham, a meat-pie, and a flask ... — Jack Sheppard - A Romance • William Harrison Ainsworth
... man, blinking at her through sudden tears, "that's what the doctors say." Here he loosed one hand to rub at each bright eye with a bony knuckle. "An' 'im so young—so game an' ... — The Definite Object - A Romance of New York • Jeffery Farnol
... deaf to such solicitations. She would take charge of the child, but paid she must be. Eventually the parochial authorities, after having called a vestry, and sat three hours in consultation, and to "knuckle under," as the hostess expressed it, and allow a trifle for the entertainment ... — The Broom-Squire • S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould
... says they are all right to sit around and do crochet work, but whenever strategy, brain, and muscle are required, then they can't get along without a man. He tries to unscrew the cover, and his thumb slips off and knocks skin off the knuckle. He breathes a silent prayer and calls for the kerosene can, and pours a little of it into the crevice, and lets it soak, and then he tries again, and ... — Peck's Sunshine - Being a Collection of Articles Written for Peck's Sun, - Milwaukee, Wis. - 1882 • George W. Peck
... our road invested in some mogul passenger engines, and I drew one. I didn't like the boiler sticking back between me and Dennis Rafferty. I didn't like six wheels connected. I didn't like a knuckle-joint in the side rod. I didn't like eighteen-inch cylinders. I was opposed to solid-end rods. And I am afraid I belonged to a class of ignorant, short-sighted, bull-headed engineers who didn't believe that a railroad had any right to buy anything but ... — Danger Signals • John A. Hill and Jasper Ewing Brady
... the top of it, just where it springs from the plateau, much where the knuckle of the imagined hand would be, and perhaps five hundred yards east from our old sandbag barricade in Crucifix Valley, there is a redness in the battered earth and upon the chalk of the road. The redness is patchy over a good big stretch of this part ... — The Old Front Line • John Masefield
... hand," said Mulvaney; "av she shuts her hand tight, thumb down over the knuckle, take up your hat an' go. You'll only make a fool av yoursilf av you shtay. But av the hand lies opin on the lap, or av you see her thryin' to shut ut, an' she can't,—go on! ... — Soldiers Three • Rudyard Kipling
... workshops? If we do I trust that we shall be disappointed. These men who have fought so nobly for their land, and who have tasted, even under the most trying conditions, something of the largeness and gladness of a free open-air life, will, I hope, refuse to knuckle down again to the old commercialism. Now at last arises the opportunity for our outworn Civilization to make a fresh start. Now comes the chance to establish great self-supporting Colonies in our own countrysides and co-operative concerns where real Goods may be manufactured ... — The Healing of Nations and the Hidden Sources of Their Strife • Edward Carpenter
... below him, and leaned across the bed with hands upon the blankets, staring his kinsman in the face as if he would pluck the truth from him out at the very eyes. His voice rose to an animal cry with an agony in it; the sinister look that did him such injustice breathed across his visage. His knuckle and collar-bones shone ... — John Splendid - The Tale of a Poor Gentleman, and the Little Wars of Lorn • Neil Munro
... here a goodly piece of pigeon pie, wrapped in a cabbage leaf to hold the gravy. Here I behold a dainty streaked piece of brawn, and here a fair lump of white bread. Here I find four oaten cakes and a cold knuckle of ham. Ha! In sooth, 'tis strange; but here I behold six eggs that must have come by accident from some poultry yard hereabouts. They are raw, but roasted upon the coals and spread with a piece ... — The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood • Howard Pyle
... in a representation of geniality and mildness. But in the character of Judas he represents, in every wrinkle of his face, and in every curl of his hair, and in every glare of his eye, and in every knuckle of his hand with which he clutches the money bag, hypocrisy and avarice and hate and low strategy and diabolism. The quickness with which he grabs the bribe for the betrayal of the Lord, the villainous leer at the Master while seated at the holy supper, show him to be capable ... — T. De Witt Talmage - As I Knew Him • T. De Witt Talmage
... gal," said he at length, judicially. "Hit ain't usual; but seein' as a gal don't pick atween men because one's a quicker shot than another, but because he's maybe stronger, or something like that, why, how'd knuckle and skull suit you two roosters, best man win and us to see hit fair? Hit's one of ye fer the gal, like enough. But not right now. Wait till we're on the trail and clean o' the law. I heern there's a sheriff round ... — The Covered Wagon • Emerson Hough
... door of the world's treasure-house guarded by a child—an idle irresponsible child playing knuckle-bones—on whose favor depends the gift of the key, and you will imagine one-half my torment. Till that evening Charlie had spoken nothing that might not lie within the experiences of a Greek galley-slave. But now, or there was no virtue in books, he had talked ... — The Works of Rudyard Kipling One Volume Edition • Rudyard Kipling
... attend the avenues to public places to steal pocket-books, watches, &c. a superior kind of pickpockets. To knuckle ... — 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue • Captain Grose et al.
... steering knuckle on a heavy touring car set things in a different light—many things. She learned then that death is no respecter of persons, that a big income may be lived to its limit with nothing left when the brain force which commanded it ceases to function. Her father produced ... — Big Timber - A Story of the Northwest • Bertrand W. Sinclair
... seemed electrified, but no electricity appeared in the hempen string. Franklin presented his knuckle to the key, but ... — True to His Home - A Tale of the Boyhood of Franklin • Hezekiah Butterworth
... in his rage. "So that's what you think of me, is it? It's worth something to know that. Knuckle down to that young cub and have him putting it over me for the rest of my life? What do you take me for? I'll see him starve first. Why should you undertake to advise me ... — The Lever - A Novel • William Dana Orcutt
... of English "Brasso" from a pocket-flap, and began to rub a lamp. At the far, far end of the long shed four men were standing with their backs to her, round a car. The globed lamp was tricky, and the chamois-leather would slip and let her bark her knuckle on the bracket. But the glow, born in the brass, grew clearer and clearer, till suddenly, stooping to it, she looked into a mirror and saw all the garage behind her and the long rows of cars bent in a yellow curve, and little men and oily women walking incredibly upon the rounded ball ... — The Happy Foreigner • Enid Bagnold
... home, Harris, who was a cross between a butler and a maid-of-all-work, adored him to the point of letting him make candy on the kitchen stove—probably the greatest expression of affection possible to the kitchen; in fact, little Elizabeth Ferguson was the only person in his world who did not knuckle down to this pleasant and lovable child. But then, Elizabeth never knuckled down to anybody! Certainly not to kind old Cherry- pie, whose timid upper lip quivered like a rabbit's when she was obliged to repeat to her darling some new rule of Robert Ferguson's for his niece's upbringing; nor did she ... — The Iron Woman • Margaret Deland
... city, and fourteen cities, down to a stratum where, still earlier, wandering herdsmen drove their flocks, and where, even preceding them, wild hunters chased their prey long after the cave-man and the man of the squatting-place cracked the knuckle-bones of wild animals and vanished from the earth. There is nothing terrible about it. With Richard Hovey, when he faced his death, we can say: "Behold! I have lived!" And with another and greater one, we can lay ourselves down with a will. The one drop of living, the one taste of being, has ... — The Human Drift • Jack London
... laid for the evening meal. She pointed to the heels of two loaves, a knuckle of ham, a piece of cheese, and some water in a glass jug. Oatmeal simmered on a reeking oil-stove in a corner ... — The Return of the Prodigal • May Sinclair
... round and his knuckle on his hips. Stephen, watching him with immense enjoyment, speculated whether this abandoned husband would weep or curse, or rush off at once in furious pursuit. But as ... — The Wheels of Chance - A Bicycling Idyll • H. G. Wells
... the old gentleman. "I've had nothing to eat yesterday, nor to-day. They surely couldn't miss a bit from the knuckle!" ... — Famous Stories Every Child Should Know • Various
... the fields. The kite was raised; then Franklin tied an iron key to the lower end of the string. After waiting some time, he saw the little hair-like threads of the string begin to stand up like the bristles of a brush. He felt certain that the electricity was coming down the string. He put his knuckle close to the key, and a spark flew out. Next, he took his Leyden Jar and collected the electricity in that. He had made two great discoveries, for he had found out that electricity and lightning are the same thing and he had also found how to fill his bottle ... — The Beginner's American History • D. H. Montgomery
... explanation. I had known, as every prisoner in San Quentin knew, that the two men in solitary were Ed Morrell and Jake Oppenheimer. And I knew that these were the two men who tapped knuckle- talk to each other and were punished for ... — The Jacket (The Star-Rover) • Jack London
... from defiant —"And servile," no doubt you retort!— But if you struck a snag on A bottle-green dragon, Who filled up two-thirds of your court, And curled up his tail on your new tin roof, And made your piazza groan under his hoof, Would you threaten and thunder, Or just knuckle under Completely, I wonder, ... — Grimm Tales Made Gay • Guy Wetmore Carryl
... books when the Vicomte entered, after knocking at the door. He referred to this courteous precaution by a little gesture indicating the panel upon which his knuckle had sounded. ... — Dross • Henry Seton Merriman
... Suif stooped several times as if looking for something under her petticoats. She hesitated a second, looked at her neighbors and the straightened herself up quietly. Faces were pale and drawn. Loiseau said that he would pay one thousand francs for a knuckle of ham. His wife made a gesture as if to protest, then she became calm. She always suffered when she heard of money being squandered, and did not even understand jokes on that subject. "As a matter of fact, I don't feel well, said the Count; why did I not think of taking ... — Mademoiselle Fifi • Guy de Maupassant
... are air. Thou hast not got burghers by the ear, that know not a veal knuckle from their grandsire's ribs; but soldiers-men that have gone to look for their dear comrades, and found their bones picked as clean by the crows as these I doubt have been by thee and thy mates. Men and women, saidst thou? And prithee, when spake I a word of ... — The Cloister and the Hearth • Charles Reade
... He had no great cause to "buck up," his share of the boiled leg would be very small indeed and entirely knuckle, the Professor holding that the knuckle end ... — The Missing Link • Edward Dyson
... and he made a wry face, for studying was not particularly in his line, although he could knuckle down as hard as anyone when it was necessary. But before they went to college the lads and their father, accompanied by some others, went off on a treasure hunt, locating what was known ... — The Rover Boys in Alaska - or Lost in the Fields of Ice • Arthur M. Winfield
... she goin' to turn you out o' your own daughter's home? Wa'n't that what I turned her out fer? I didn't turn her out, anyhow! I only told Orville this house wa'n't big enough fer his mother an' me, an' that neither o' us 'u'd knuckle down, so he'd best take his ... — McClure's Magazine December, 1895 • Edited by Ida M. Tarbell
... back in the shadow of their long, thick lashes lurked a fund of laughter and harmless mischief as charming as it was apparently latent. Her form was of the partridge fashion, though not at all too plump, and her hands, which were white and soft as any lady's, were small and dimpled at every knuckle. Her little feet and ankles—but we ... — The Touchstone of Fortune • Charles Major
... knuckle). The surface by which one bone articulates with another. Applied especially to the articular surface or surfaces by which the skull articulates with the ... — The Ancient Life History of the Earth • Henry Alleyne Nicholson
... make a man of me. And, being a man, there are some things I'm not likely to forget. Say, you've passed sentence—you and your friends, which include Jim Thorpe. You won't have to carry it out. I'll knuckle down, because I know you all. But, by gee! I've struck what you're looking for, and when I've gathered the dust I'll make some folks jump to my own ... — The One-Way Trail - A story of the cattle country • Ridgwell Cullum
... understood to be engaged?" Miss Ramsey is a dark-eyed, dark-haired girl of nearly the length of two lady's umbrellas and the bulk of one closely folded in its sheath. She stands with her elbow supported on the corner of the mantel, her temple resting on the knuckle of a thin, nervous hand, in an effect of thoughtful absent-mindedness. Miss Garnett, more or less Merovingian in a costume that lends itself somewhat reluctantly to a low, thick figure, is apparently poising ... — The Daughter of the Storage - And Other Things in Prose and Verse • William Dean Howells
... tell you, Raoul," said Athos, in his turn, "that he was reckoned one of the finest swordsmen of his time—a knuckle of iron, a wrist of steel, a sure eye and a glance of fire; that's what his adversary met with. He was eighteen, only three years older than you are, Raoul, when I saw him set to work, pitted against ... — Twenty Years After • Alexandre Dumas, Pere
... vigil that had lasted several hours. It was all very well to be "in with" the police; but suppose their plans miscarried? Suppose Red Ike and his unknown friends got to know that the "double cross" was being put on them? Fred fingered a heavy knuckle-duster in his pocket nervously. Man to man, he was not afraid of Ike, but there were ... — The Grell Mystery • Frank Froest
... eyes opened wide, and be made the knuckle-bones of both hands crack like caps going off. "Four ... — The Eye of Zeitoon • Talbot Mundy
... plan ahead in this country," said Smith. "You must know to a skinned knuckle just what you'll need a year, or five years, ahead here, if you ever make it go worth havin'. It ain't like it is back where you come from. There you can go it more or less hit-or-miss, and hit about as often as you miss. ... — Claim Number One • George W. (George Washington) Ogden
... hill-top in the sunshine, watching them, with his tongue hanging out. The sun was now quite high in the sky and the day was warm. The children paddled in the water and built a dam, and sent fleets of leaves down the stream, and played knuckle-bones on a flat rock beside it, until at last they were hungry, and then they ate ... — The Spartan Twins • Lucy (Fitch) Perkins
... Pressure may cause the animal pain. In chronic tendinitis the tendon may be thickened and rough or knotty. Pain is not a prominent symptom in this class of cases. Shortening of the inflamed tendon may occur, causing the animal to knuckle over. Rupture of one or more of the tendons and the suspensory ligament can be recognized by the abnormal extension of the pastern. If the ruptured tendon heals, it always results in a thickening at the point of the rupture that gives the tendons a ... — Common Diseases of Farm Animals • R. A. Craig, D. V. M.
... once that I do not grasp the club across the palm of either hand. The club being taken in the left hand first, the shaft passes from the knuckle joint of the first finger across the ball of the second. The left thumb lies straight down the shaft—that is to say, it is just to the left of the centre of the shaft. But the following are the significant features of the grip. The right hand is brought up so high that the palm ... — The Complete Golfer [1905] • Harry Vardon
... was the ungracious response, accompanied by immediate action of a similar nature. Rupe held Penrod's head in the crook of an elbow and massaged his temples with a hard-pressing knuckle. ... — Penrod • Booth Tarkington
... green stems from two bunches of asparagus and put them in 2 quarts and a pint of water, with 2 pounds of veal (the knuckle is the best). Boil in a closely covered pot three hours, till the meat is in rags and the asparagus dissolved. Strain the liquor and return to the pot with the remaining half of the asparagus heads. Let this boil ... — The Cookery Blue Book • Society for Christian Work of the First Unitarian Church, San
... with spears, and others with rifles. From the circle of strangely dressed and hideously visaged beings that had gathered about him one advanced and began talking to him in a language that was like the rapid clack of knuckle bones. ... — Isobel • James Oliver Curwood
... common thing to see them playing together, the old sailor on his knees, one eye shut, and a marble against the nail of his horny thumb taking aim; Dick and Emmeline on the watch to make sure he was playing fair, their shrill voices echoing amidst the cocoa-nut trees with cries of "Knuckle down, Paddy, knuckle down!" He entered into all their amusements just as one of themselves. On high and rare occasions Emmeline would open her precious box, spread its contents and give a tea-party, Mr Button acting as guest or president ... — The Blue Lagoon - A Romance • H. de Vere Stacpoole
... took their punishment with the savage pluck of so many little Sioux. As the game began in the raw cold of the earliest spring, every boy had chapped hands, and nearly every one had the skin worn off the knuckle of his middle finger from resting it on the ground when he shot. You could use a knuckle-dabster of fur or cloth to rest your hand on, but is was considered effeminate, and in the excitement you were apt to forget it, anyway. Marbles were always ... — Boy Life - Stories and Readings Selected From The Works of William Dean Howells • William Dean Howells
... I robbed my master for the best bone in the world," continued the pedlar, and as he said this he took up a little silver horn belonging to the lord of the castle, and, having tapped it with his knuckle to see whether the metal was pure, folded it up in cotton, and put it in his pack with the rest of ... — Junior Classics, V6 • Various
... with him. Then Radley gripped my fingers and nearly broke the knuckle-bones. Fillet also formally proffered his hand, and I pressed it quite heartily. It was no good gloating over a ... — Tell England - A Study in a Generation • Ernest Raymond
... public schools and universities to the army. They had been lieutenants, captains, and majors in the air force, or infantry battalions, or tanks, or trench-mortars, and they had drawn good pay, which was their pocket-money. Now they were at a loose end, hating the idea of office-work, but ready to knuckle down to any kind of decent job with some prospect ahead. What kind of job? What knowledge had they of use in civil life? None. They scanned advertisements, answered likely invitations, were turned down ... — Now It Can Be Told • Philip Gibbs
... I would not give up to what I thought just her silly taste for a name she thought more stylish than plain old Jacob; but she sent back to New York and got a certified copy of the record. So I had to knuckle under. Jacobus is in law my name just as much as Teunis, and both of them, I understand, used to be pretty common names among the Vandemarks, Brosses, Kuyckendalls, Westfalls and other Dutch families for generations. It makes very little difference after all, for most of the ... — Vandemark's Folly • Herbert Quick
... progress of the game nothing had been heard save the sound of a knuckle on the table, the flip flip of the pasteboard, or the rasp of a heel on the floor. There was a set smile on Shon's face—a forgotten smile, for the rest of the face was stern and tragic. Pierre smoked cigarettes, pausing, while ... — The Judgment House • Gilbert Parker
... poked fun at the "white wings"; but no one went to see them who did not come away converted to an enthusiastic belief in the man and his work. Public sentiment, that had been half reluctantly suspending judgment, expecting every day to see the colonel "knuckle down to politics" like his predecessors, turned in an hour, and after that there was little trouble. The tenement house children organized street cleaning bands to help along the work, and Colonel Waring enlisted them as regular auxiliaries and made ... — The Battle with the Slum • Jacob A. Riis
... P.M. Several canoes alongside. At 4 Wongaroa Island south-east about 3 miles: at 5 light breezes, made all sail along the coast, at 6 Cavill Island east by south. Wongaroa south-east by south. Knuckle Point west 5 leagues, A.M. Knuckle Point south 3 miles: set up. At noon North-West Cape about 6 miles: 5 ... — The Logbooks of the Lady Nelson - With The Journal Of Her First Commander Lieutenant James Grant, R.N • Ida Lee
... friends. Jack suddenly decided to go West and finish his engineering studies in the mountains about Pebbly Pit. And Tom decided to make one last stand for Polly, and should she still refuse him on the basis that she must finish a business experience first, then he would knuckle down to hard work and ... — Polly's Business Venture • Lillian Elizabeth Roy
... knuckle down the hold this morning," he wrote back, "and I have only two fingers ... — Stories from Everybody's Magazine • 1910 issues of Everybody's Magazine
... showcase, but Lil soon put a stop to that. She had her own ideas on clothes. He turned to jewellery. On Lil's silken bosom reposed a diamond-and-platinum pin the size and general contour of a fish-knife. She had a dinner ring that crowded the second knuckle, and on her plump wrist sparkled an oblong so encrusted with diamonds that its utilitarian dial was ... — Half Portions • Edna Ferber
... sketches, I have given a close rendering: to use a homely phrase, their flavour is very near the knuckle; and I have been anxious to lose no more of it than must inevitably be lost through the mere act of translation. I hope that I may be forgiven for one or two phrases, which, though not existing, so far ... — The Path of Life • Stijn Streuvels
... we did not mean For seeing through, but to be seen At tap of Trustee's knuckle; But the Director locks the gate, And makes ourselves and strangers wait While he is ciphering on a slate The rust of ... — Atlantic Monthly, Volume 2, Issue 10, August, 1858 • Various
... delicate, eager tapping at his door, not done with a knuckle but with the tip of a fingernail, which was instantly clarified to George's mind's eye as plainly as if he saw it: the long and polished white-mooned pink shield on the end of his Aunt Fanny's right forefinger. But George was in no mood ... — The Magnificent Ambersons • Booth Tarkington
... in question was written in a remarkably cramped hand, on several very dirty sheets of blue ruled foolscap, folded with much care and crookedness, and fastened with a red wafer which bore the distinct impression of an extremely hard knuckle. ... — Over the Rocky Mountains - Wandering Will in the Land of the Redskin • R.M. Ballantyne
... be a long, outstretched finger, seems to fold back into itself, knuckle-fashion, and presently is but a part of the oddly foreshortened shoreline, distinguishable only by the black dot of watchers clustered under a battery of lights, like a swarm of hiving bees. Out in midstream the tugs, which have been convoying the ship, let go of her and ... — Europe Revised • Irvin S. Cobb
... panted to his wife, "I've got him. Silly of me to mislay him, but he's so confoundedly shy." He held out his finger as the judges approached, and introduced them to the small green pet perching on the knuckle. "A blight," he said. "Hereward, the Chief Blight. Been in the family for years. A ... — Once a Week • Alan Alexander Milne
... bank below the village. Upon the parson's arm hung a pair of antique saddle-bags. Baptiste limped wearily behind; both his eyes were encircled with broad blue rings, and one cheek-bone bore the official impress of every knuckle of Colossus's left hand. The "beautiful to take care of somebody" had lost his charge. At mention of the negro he became wild, and half in English, half in the "gumbo" dialect, said murderous things. Intimidated by Jules to calmness, he became ... — Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 7 • Various
... "Ready, sir," added Prescott. "This fight," announced the referee, "is to be to a finish. The rounds will last two minutes each, with a minute's rest between. Queensbury rules will be followed as far as they can be made to apply. This being a bare-knuckle fight for a matter of principle, the ... — Dick Prescott's First Year at West Point • H. Irving Hancock
... I was a-saying, the Brownie at Hilton Hall would play at mischief, but if the servants laid out for it a bowl of cream, or a knuckle cake spread with honey, it would clear away things for them, and make everything tidy in the kitchen. One night, however, when the servants had stopped up late, they heard a noise in the kitchen, and, peeping in, saw the Brownie swinging to and fro on ... — English Fairy Tales • Joseph Jacobs (coll. & ed.)
... matters, as we sat before the Colonel's tent in the evening, and a Chaplain represented the feelings of the North in this manner: "We must whip them. We have got more money, more men, more ships, more ingenuity. They are bound to knuckle at last. If we have to lose man for man with them, their host will die out before ours. And we wont give up the Union,—not a piece of it big enough for a bird or a bee to cover,—though we reduce these thirty millions one half, and leave only the women and children ... — Campaigns of a Non-Combatant, - and His Romaunt Abroad During the War • George Alfred Townsend
... narrow, short shoulders are always accompanied by straight, short, upper arms, forming an obtuse angle, badly developed brisket and "keel" or chicken breast, and the upper arm being thrown forward by the weight of the body behind causes the legs to knuckle over at the "knees." Broad, sloping shoulders, on the other hand, insure soundness of the fore-legs and feet. LEGS AND FEET—Fore-legs very short and strong in bone, slightly bent inwards; seen in profile, moderately ... — Dogs and All About Them • Robert Leighton
... the boy sat down with this big manuscript book. Weird schemes of numeration rioted over the pages, from the Zuni finger and the Chinese knuckle systems to the latest groups of symbols, used in modern higher mathematics, of which the boy had not even heard. It was noon before he realized with a start that ... — The Boy With the U. S. Life-Savers • Francis Rolt-Wheeler
... about English wateringplaces? Brighton, Margate. Piers by moonlight. Her voice floating out. Those lovely seaside girls. Against John Long's a drowsing loafer lounged in heavy thought, gnawing a crusted knuckle. Handy man wants job. Small wages. Will ... — Ulysses • James Joyce
... since. By good luck, some sticks were found in the cave, half-burnt faggots, the remains of a fire no doubt left by a party of Indian hunters, who had also spent a night there. With these they were enabled to boil their kettle, and make a mate of their favourite yerba tea; while the "knuckle" of mutton and some cakes of corn bread still left, needed no cooking. It is after all this was over, and they had been some time conversing on the many strange incidents which occurred to them throughout the day, ... — Gaspar the Gaucho - A Story of the Gran Chaco • Mayne Reid
... spoony, isn't he, Jack?" gasped Toby, taken aback as he saw the man do this. "I reckon now, Steve, your ogre isn't quite as tough a character as you imagined. He's got a spark of human about him, seems like, and like most Chester folks has to knuckle down before ... — Jack Winters' Baseball Team - Or, The Rivals of the Diamond • Mark Overton
... the original a Kaffir word is used here. The literal meaning of the phrase is "to throw the knuckle bones"—the Kaffir equivalent ... — Three Years' War • Christiaan Rudolf de Wet
... the deadly cestus. The "science" of the game was to parry the blows of the antagonist, as it is in the "noble and manly" art of self-defence now. The exercise was violent and dangerous, and the combatants often lost their lives, as they do at the present day. The cestus, like our "brass-knuckle," was a thong of hide, loaded with lead, and bound over the hand. At first used to add weight to the blow, it was afterwards continued up the fore-arm, and formed also a weapon of defence. Mr. Morrissey, or any other "shoulder-hitter," would ... — Atlantic Monthly, Volume 3, No. 19, May, 1859 • Various
... handed a very stiff bunch of flowers, surrounded with frilled paper like the knuckle of a leg ... — The Hero • William Somerset Maugham
... party or even having seen his face, one is aware that he will always be found with his pale eyes wide open when the light is flicked on at One Bell. He has been sometime in tramp-steamers, who carry no oilers, for there is a hard callous on the knuckle of his right forefinger where the oil-feeder handle has been chafing. Whether he would be a tower of strength in a smash-up is not so easily divined. Next to him a young gentleman is sitting sideways smoking, a pair of handsome cuff-buttons of Indian design flashing at his wrists. ... — An Ocean Tramp • William McFee
... lamentations were checked at this point by a knuckle, knocking at the half-open door of the room. The knuckle had knocked two or three times already, but had not ... — Our Mutual Friend • Charles Dickens
... not too clean, was laid, and on it, with much parade of knife and fork, appeared a very dry knuckle of ham, a plate of yellow soda biscuit, and a pallid and flabby pie. Spite of himself, Calvin's cheery face fell as he looked on this banquet; but he sat down, and ... — The Wooing of Calvin Parks • Laura E. Richards
... a foil and counterfeit and perverse and prosperous parody as the son of Hortense Beauharnais of Saint-Leu to the son of Letizia Buonaparte of Ajaccio. For Shakespeare too, like Landor, had watched his "sweet Octavius" smilingly and frowningly "draw under nose the knuckle of forefinger" as he looked out upon the trail of innocent blood after the bright receding figure of his brave young kinsman. The fair-faced false "present God" of his poetic parasites, the smooth triumphant patron and preserver with the heart of ice and iron, smiles ... — A Study of Shakespeare • Algernon Charles Swinburne
... I had ever had a desire to "knuckle up" with any but kings' sons or sultans' little boys. I longed to be among my equals in the urchin-line, and fly my ... — The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 90, April, 1865 • Various
... Cerberus sized me up with so insolent an eye that I reached over and took him out of his chair. I knocked on his meagre chest with my fore knuckle, and fetched forth a weak, gaspy cough; but he looked at me unflinchingly, much like a defiant ... — Moon-Face and Other Stories • Jack London
... senses as a new and grand idea when Bladud and Dromas, at the urgent request of their friends, stepped into the arena and gave a specimen of the manner in which the art was practised in Hellas. Of course they did not use what we call knuckle-dusters, nor did they even double their fists, except when moving round each other, and as "gloves" were unknown, they struck out with the hands half open, for they had no wish to bleed each other's noses or black each other's ... — The Hot Swamp • R.M. Ballantyne
... the fingers at each side of the one to be removed. The surgeon holding the finger to be removed, enters the point of a long straight bistoury exactly (some authorities say half an inch) above the metacarpo-phalangeal joint, and cuts from the prominence of the knuckle right into the angle of the web, then, turning inwards there, cuts obliquely into the palm to a point nearly opposite the one at which he ... — A Manual of the Operations of Surgery - For the Use of Senior Students, House Surgeons, and Junior Practitioners • Joseph Bell
... most a fool, can vote and make you knuckle down and do as he tells you to. And don't you remember that time the 'lection run so clost they got up old bed-ridden Nate Haskins, whose brain had been softenin' for years, and his wife had to dress him and git him ready for the pole, he callin' on his ... — Samantha at the St. Louis Exposition • Marietta Holley
... it seemed, for the maid had forgotten to light the lamp. Without pausing to take off his greatcoat, he hung up his hat, ran nimbly upstairs, and knocked with a light knuckle on his bedroom door. It was closed, but no answer came. He opened it, shut it, locked it, and sat down on the bedside for a moment, in the darkness, so that he could scarcely hear any other sound, as he sat ... — The Return • Walter de la Mare
... fed, with child on her back and basket on her arm, to practise the art of double-dyed lying and deception on honest, simple people, in order to bring back her ill-gotten gains to her semi-clad hovel, on which to fatten her "lord and master," by half-cleaned knuckle-bones, ham-shanks, and pieces of bacon that fall from the "rich ... — Gipsy Life - being an account of our Gipsies and their children • George Smith
... shop-bell went and the widow 'ad to go out to serve a customer they said in w'ispers wot they thought of each other; and once when she came back rather sudden Ginger 'ad to explain to 'er that 'e was showing Peter Russet a scratch on his knuckle. ... — Captains All and Others • W.W. Jacobs
... know that Monty and the cat talk together just as easy as you and me could talk, and I say that if it's come to this, that we're going to allow an idiot of a man and a devil of a cat to take away the characters of respectable gentlemen, we'd better knuckle down and beg Monty to take charge of this camp and to treat us like so ... — Lords of the Housetops - Thirteen Cat Tales • Various
... pounds; eh, youngster? I began business with 100 pounds less; and here I am. Money breeds money; do you understand that?" and here Joey received a knuckle in his ribs, which almost took his breath away, but which he bore without flinching, as he presumed it was a mark of ... — The Poacher - Joseph Rushbrook • Frederick Marryat
... fit a plow handle better than a gun-stock, Thaine," his father assured him, looking down at the boy's square, sun-browned hand with a dimple in each knuckle. ... — Winning the Wilderness • Margaret Hill McCarter
... can see him now if you want to. Why did you go and ride that little devil Knuckle-Duster when I ... — Charles Rex • Ethel M. Dell
... From a major in foreign service, uninvited, to a king, it sounded near the knuckle. Feisul ... — Affair in Araby • Talbot Mundy
... our friend Audley Egerton. You have just had a glimpse of the real being that struggles under the huge copper;—you have heard the hollow sound of the rich man's coffers under the tap of Baron Levy's friendly knuckle—heard the strong man's heart give out its dull warning sound to the scientific ear of Dr. F vanishes the separate existence, lost again in the flame that heats the boiler, and the smoke that curls into ... — The International Monthly Magazine - Volume V - No II • Various
... many months before. A child, ill-clad, in fragments of clothes, with long and dirty hair, unclean face, and naked feet, cried at the door, and loud talking was heard within. Mr Fairman knocked with his knuckle before he entered, and a gruff voice desired him to "come in." A stout fellow, with a surly countenance and unshaven beard, was sitting over an apology for a fire, and a female of the same age and condition was near him. She ... — Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXIX. - March, 1843, Vol. LIII. • Various
... not," said Jim, who saw too late that he had made a mistake. "Your sort o' folks knuckle to the devil more nor I do. A good bein' I take to, but a bad bein' I'm careless with; an' I don't make no more o' slingin' his name round nor I ... — Sevenoaks • J. G. Holland
... stink, if you like the word. Only—shall I say it?—I had ordered a few onions to garnish a knuckle of veal which Mme. Seraphine had sent down to me, she being the cook on the second floor, whose accounts I write out for her every evening. I tried to explain the matter to the governor, but he had flown ... — The Nabob • Alphonse Daudet
... the sun, and go in swimmin', and all the time the stuff is just growin' and whoopin' her right along, like as if I was boss of a dozen boys, and they was all sellin' papers and I was makin' a profit on 'em all, and wasn't doin' nothin' myself. So when these fellers find out they've got to knuckle down and shine shoes, why they just light out kinder lively, and make up their minds that New York ain't much of ... — The Boy Broker - Among the Kings of Wall Street • Frank A. Munsey
... don't knuckle down very often, that's a fact," chuckled the trapper; "though there have been occasions. That girl episode was one, you ... — With Trapper Jim in the North Woods • Lawrence J. Leslie
... Ottawa. He was more honoured in war than Laurier had been in peace. He would have been a better Canadian had he stayed in Ottawa more. But there were many Canadians who were more concerned about how to help Foch and Lloyd George win the war in Europe than about how to knuckle down to common business at home. The trek to England and to Europe became a fad. The nations went world crazy. Premiers neglected to "saw wood." It was a matter for gratitude that they did ... — The Masques of Ottawa • Domino
... on. I dare to say anything that comes up my darned back, you bet. I'm not going to knuckle ... — The Green Mummy • Fergus Hume
... retreat, beat a retreat; draw in one's horns &c (humility) 879; give way, give round, give in, give up; cave in; suffer judgment by default; bend, bend to one's yoke, bend before the storm; reel back; bend down, knuckle down, knuckle to, knuckle under; knock under. eat dirt, eat the leek, eat humble pie; bite the dust, lick the dust; be at one's feet, fall at one's feet; craven; crouch before, throw oneself at the feet of; swallow the leek, swallow the pill; kiss the ... — Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases: Body • Roget
... fixed in a cake of resin. Electrified clouds passing over this would, he conceived, impart to it a portion of their electricity which would be rendered evident to the senses by sparks being emitted when a key, the knuckle, or other conductor, was presented to it. Philadelphia at this time afforded no opportunity of trying an experiment of this kind. While Franklin was waiting for the erection of a spire, it occurred to him that he might have more ... — Little Masterpieces of Science: - Invention and Discovery • Various
... were half as keen over the knives and knuckle-dusters of them fellows of yours!" ... — The Return of Blue Pete • Luke Allan
... are a wonder, mother dear. You wouldn't come off of your high-horse for anything, would you? By Jove, that's what I like most in you. You never knuckle." ... — From the Housetops • George Barr McCutcheon
... on his horse, holding his sides with laughter, and shouted: "Aha! My old men are not to your taste! I thought so! This isn't like playing knuckle-bones with children and old women! Well, then, my honorable Messrs. Dead Men, I have never yet felt pity for any one, and you needn't show mercy to my enemies. Deal with them after your ... — Folk-Tales of Napoleon - The Napoleon of the People; Napoleonder • Honore de Balzac and Alexander Amphiteatrof
... grasp the handle firmly; cover it with your whole palm, but don't squeeze it to death; just grip it evenly—tuck it away. And keep your elbow down; and crook your wrist, in a drop, until your trigger knuckle is pointing very low—at a man's feet if you're ... — Desert Dust • Edwin L. Sabin
... what I ought to have done. That is the period when the bones grow, muscles develop—everything grows. Another thing against me is the length of my fingers. When the fingers are longer than the width of the hand across the knuckle joint, it is not an advantage but a detriment. The extra length of finger is only so much dead weight that the hand has to lift. This is another disadvantage I have had to work against. Yes, as you say, it is a rather remarkable hand in regard to size and suppleness. But I hardly agree that it ... — Piano Mastery - Talks with Master Pianists and Teachers • Harriette Brower
... for a moment and then walked across to a window, outside of which was a hen-coop with two knuckle-bones lying beside it. These he picked up, and taking the hen from the coop, he tucked ... — The Olive Fairy Book • Various
... appearance; but they were more fleshy, perhaps from being able to obtain a better supply of food with the scoop nets, which are not known on the southern parts of the coast. I noticed in most of them a hard tumour on the outer knuckle of the wrist, which, if we understood them aright, was caused by the stretcher of the scoop coming in contact with this part in the act of throwing the net. Our native did not understand a word of their ... — A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume 2 • Matthew Flinders
... Lordships should knuckle to me; I am ancient—but were I as old as King Priam, Not much, I confess, to your credit 'twould be, To mind such a twaddling old Trojan ... — The Complete Poems of Sir Thomas Moore • Thomas Moore et al
... will let you know. I know the signs. When a Great One rises up in the midst of a Republic and puts her hands on her hips and says 'What are you going to do about it?' and there isn't anything to do about it, you have a dictator, and all that you can do is knuckle down ... — The Cheerful Smugglers • Ellis Parker Butler
... to his face as though to brush his tears away, and we then noticed for the first time—horror upon horror!—that his fingers had all been cut, or rather hacked out, at the knuckle-joints, the wounds still ... — For Treasure Bound • Harry Collingwood
... some of whom have already been mentioned in these pages, and they likewise made several enemies. Chief among the enemies were Josiah Crabtree, a dictatorial teacher, and Dan Baxter, a bully who had done his best to make them "knuckle under" to him. ... — The Rover Boys In The Mountains • Arthur M. Winfield
... if he will this time, thought the Collector grimly, with a glance down at a smear across the knuckle of his right-hand glove. The sight of it cheered him and steadied his temper. "Possibly," said he aloud. "But your worships may not be aware—and as merciful men may be glad to hear—that this poor creature's offence against ... — Lady Good-for-Nothing • A. T. Quiller-Couch
... eate, not deintily, or salletwise to allure their stomacks to appetite: but for necessities sake without either salt, oiles or washing, like brute beasts deuouring the same. They neither vse table, stoole, or table cloth for comlines; but when they are imbrued with blood knuckle deepe, and their kniues in like sort, they vse their tongues as apt instruments to lick them cleane: in doing whereof they are assured to loose none of ... — The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of The English Nation, Vol. XII., America, Part I. • Richard Hakluyt
... of Egypt shrank dismayed. They made a feeble and altogether unsuccessful attempt to imitate Aaron's performance, and then drew back, declining to continue the contest. The lice settled them. "This," said they, "is the finger of God." But Pharaoh still refused to knuckle under. Even against the force of this supreme ... — Bible Romances - First Series • George W. Foote
... shan't, unless I get some outside help. My brain isn't that sort of brain. It's another sort. Only one has to knuckle down ... — Leonora • Arnold Bennett
... an old-fashioned carriage, with two white horses in it, yet whiter by age than by nature. They looked as if no coachman could get more than three miles an hour out of them, they were so fat and knuckle-kneed. But my attention could not rest long on the horses, and I reached the door just as my housekeeper was pronouncing me absent. There were two ladies in the carriage, one ... — Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood • George MacDonald
... I flirt just a trifle too much with "il partito nero," when I am in Italy, for they know that in the main I think as they do. "These people," they say, "make themselves very agreeable to you, and show you their smooth side; we, who see more of them, know their rough one. Knuckle under to them, and they will perhaps condescend to patronise you; have any individuality of your own, and they know neither scruple nor remorse in their attempts to get you out of their way. 'Il prete' they say, with ... — Selections from Previous Works - and Remarks on Romanes' Mental Evolution in Animals • Samuel Butler
... was beginning to despair of his contrivance, he observed some loose threads of the hempen string to stand erect, and to avoid one another, just as if they had been suspended on a common conductor. Struck with this promising appearance, he immediately presented his knuckle to the key! And let the reader judge of the exquisite pleasure he must have felt at that moment when the discovery was complete! We owe to Priestley this admirable narrative; the strong sensation of ... — Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 (of 3) • Isaac D'Israeli
... return from mass, she saw Iwan Ignatiitch busy clearing the cannon of the rags, small stones, bits of wood, knuckle-bones, and all kinds of rubbish that the little boys had crammed ... — The Daughter of the Commandant • Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin |