gnarled

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English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

First attested Shakespeare 1603:[1]

Thy sharpe and sulpherous bolt Splits the vn-wedgable [unwedgable] and gnarled Oke [oak].
Measure for Measure, Act II, scene ii, line 116

Variant of knurled,[2][3] from knurl. By surface analysis, gnarl +‎ -ed, though gnarl is a later back-formation. Popular use by 19th century.[2]

Adjective[edit]

gnarled (comparative more gnarled, superlative most gnarled)

  1. Knotty and misshapen.
    • 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, chapter I, in Nobody, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 1915, →OCLC:
      Three chairs of the steamer type, all maimed, comprised the furniture of this roof-garden, with [] on one of the copings a row of four red clay flower-pots filled with sun-baked dust from which gnarled and rusty stalks thrust themselves up like withered elfin limbs.
  2. Made rough by age or hard work.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

gnarled

  1. simple past and past participle of gnarl (Etymology 1)

Etymology 2[edit]

See gnarl (Etymology 2).

Verb[edit]

gnarled

  1. simple past and past participle of gnarl (Etymology 2)

References[edit]

  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024), “gnarled”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. 2.0 2.1 OED
  3. ^ Barnhart

Anagrams[edit]