kneecap
To destroy the knees of, usually by shooting at the knees, as a punishment carried out…To destroy the knees of (a person), usually by shooting at the knees, as a punishment carried out by criminals or terrorists.
» After falling, he injured his kneecap.
Aghanim · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
2 senses(transitive)To destroy the knees of (a person), usually by shooting at the knees, as a punishment carried out by criminals or terrorists.
(broadly, figuratively, transitive)To attack (someone) in a way that is excessively and needlessly damaging: to cut (someone) off at the knees.
- shoot in the kneecap, often done by terrorist groups as a warning
Examples
5 sentencesAfter falling, he injured his kneecap.
I'm worried your carelessness will kneecap our chances of success.
If these muscles are weak, they cannot hold the kneecap in the correct position.
deWenn diese Muskeln schwach sind, können sie die Kniescheibe nicht in der richtigen Lage halten. — raggione
The loan shark threatened to break Tom's kneecaps.
President Jackson's actions have kneecapped our readiness for a future crisis.
Translations
2 languagesOrigin
From knee + cap.From knee + cap.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
kneecaps, kneecapping, kneecapped, kneecapped| Base form | kneecap · to kneecap |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | kneecaps |
| Present participle | kneecapping |
| Past simple | kneecapped |
| Past participle | kneecapped |
irregular
Word family
2 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle