• Knead

    Pronunciation

    • UK enPR: nÄ“d, IPA: /niːd/
    • Rhymes: -iːd
    • Homophones: kneed, need

    Origin

    Middle English kneden, from Old English cnedan, from Proto-Germanic *knedaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gnet- ‘to press together’ (cf. Old Prussian gnode ‘kneading trough’, Albanian ngjesh, Slovenian gnésti ‘to knead, press’), from *gen- ‘to ball up, pinch, compress’.

    Full definition of knead

    Verb

    1. (to work and press into a mass)(transitive) To work and press into a mass, usually with the hands; especially, to work, as by repeated pressure with the knuckles, into a well mixed mass, the materials of bread, cake, etc.
      • 2001, Özcan Ozan, Carl Tremblay, The Sultan's Kitchen: A Turkish CookbookKnead the dough by pressing down on it with the heels of both your palms and pushing it forward to stretch it, then pulling it back toward you...
    2. (transitive, figuratively) To treat or form as if by kneading; to beat.
      • ShakespeareI will knead him: I'll make him supple.
    3. (intransitive, of cats) To make an alternating pressing motion with the two front paws.
      • 1991, Grace McHattie, That's cats!: a compendium of feline factsCats knead with their paws when happy, just as they kneaded when feeding from their mothers as kittens.

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