knack

See also: knäck

English[edit]

Use as "special skill" from 1580.^[1] Possibly from 14th century Middle English krak ‎(“a sharp blow”), knakke, knakken, from Middle Low German, by onomatopoeia. Latter cognate to German knacken ‎(“to crack”). See also crack.

knack ‎(plural knacks)

A readiness in performance; aptness at doing something; skill; facility; dexterity.
- 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 254a.
  
  The sophist runs for conver to the darkness of what is not and attaches himself to it by some knack of his;
- 2011 October 2, Jonathan Jurejko, “Bolton 1–5 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport^[1]:
  
  And the Premier League's all-time top-goalscoring midfielder proved he has not lost the knack of being in the right place at the right time with a trio of clinical finishes.
A petty contrivance; a toy; a plaything; a knickknack.
Something performed, or to be done, requiring aptness and dexterity; a trick; a device.

A readiness in performance; aptness at doing something; skill; facility; dexterity

A petty contrivance; a toy; a plaything; a knickknack

Something performed, or to be done, requiring aptness and dexterity; a trick; a device

knack ‎(third-person singular simple present knacks, present participle knacking, simple past and past participle knacked)

(obsolete, Britain, dialect) To crack; to make a sharp, abrupt noise; to chink.

(Can we find and add a quotation of Bishop Hall to this entry?)
To speak affectedly.

(Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

to crack; to make a sharp, abrupt noise to chink

to speak affectedly