Knead
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
- (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...
- (transitive, figuratively) To treat or form as if by kneading; to beat.
- ShakespeareI will knead him: I'll make him supple.
- (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.