knead

English

Etymology

From Middle English kneden, from Old English cnedan, from Proto-West Germanic *knedan, from Proto-Germanic *knudaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gnet- (“to press together”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: nēd, IPA^(key): /niːd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːd
• Homophones: kneed, need

Verb

knead (third-person singular simple present kneads, present participle kneading, simple past and past participle kneaded)

2. (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 Cookbook

     Knead 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...

3. (transitive, figuratively) To treat or form as if by kneading; to beat.
   • (Can we date this quote by Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     I will knead him: I'll make him supple.

4. (intransitive, of cats) To make an alternating pressing motion with the two front paws.
   • 1991, Grace McHattie, That's cats!: a compendium of feline facts

     Cats knead with their paws when happy, just as they kneaded when feeding from their mothers as kittens.

5. (transitive) To mix thoroughly; form into a homogeneous compound.

Synonyms

• (mix): amalgamate

Translations

to work and press into a mass

• Arabic: دَلَكَ (dalaka)

  Moroccan Arabic: عْجن (ʕjən)

• Armenian: հունցել (hy) (huncʻel) (dough)
• Aromanian: frimintu
• Belarusian: мясі́ць impf (mjasícʹ)
• Bulgarian: меся (bg) pf (mesja), замесвам (bg) impf (zamesvam), замеся pf (zamesja)
• Burmese: နယ် (my) (nai)
• Catalan: amassar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 捏 (zh) (niē), 揉 (zh) (róu), 搓揉 (zh) (cuōróu)

• Czech: hníst (cs) impf
• Danish: ælte
• Dutch: kneden (nl)
• Esperanto: knedi (eo)
• Faliscan: fico (fico)
• Finnish: vaivata (fi), vatkata (fi), sotkea (fi)
• French: pétrir (fr)
• Galician: amasar (gl), gramar (gl), traballar (gl)
• Georgian: ზელა (zela), ჟღვლემა (žɣvlema), მოზელა (mozela), დაზელა (dazela)
• German: kneten (de)
• Greek: ζυμώνω (el) (zymóno)

  Ancient: μάσσω (mássō), φυράω (phuráō)

• Hebrew: לָשׁ (he)
• Hungarian: dagaszt (hu), gyúr (hu)
• Ido: petrisar (io)
• Italian: manipolare (it), impastare (it), massaggiare (it), amalgamare (it), comprimere (it)
• Japanese: 捏ねる (こねる, koneru), 練る (ja) (ねる, neru)
• Khmer: ច្របល់ (km) (crɑbɑl)
• Korean: 이기다 (ko) (igida)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: depsō, fingō
• Macedonian: меси impf (mesi)
• Maltese: għaġen
• Maori: pokepoke, pōpō
• Norman: pêtri
• Norwegian: kna (no)
• Pashto: اخښل (ps) (akhssəl)
• Persian: ورز دادن (fa) (varz dâdan), سرشتن (fa) (sereštan)
• Polish: gnieść (pl) impf
• Portuguese: amassar (pt), sovar (pt)
• Quechua: q'apiy
• Romanian: frământa (ro)
• Russian: меси́ть (ru) impf (mesítʹ), заме́шивать (ru) impf (zaméšivatʹ), замеси́ть (ru) pf (zamesítʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: гњечити impf

  Roman: gnječiti (sh) impf

• Slovak: miesiť, hniesť
• Slovene: mesiti(for dough uniquely), gnesti
• Spanish: amasar (es)
• Swedish: knåda (sv)
• Tagalog: lapisain
• Thai: นวด (th) (nûuat)
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: yoğurmak (tr)
• Ukrainian: міси́ти impf (misýty)
• Vietnamese: nhào (vi)
• Walloon: prusti (wa)
• Welsh: tylino (cy)
• Yiddish: קנעטן (knetn)
• Zazaki: alawıtene, ra'lütene, mişte kerdene

Noun

knead (plural kneads)

1. The act of kneading something.
   • 2011, Andrew Whitley, Bread Matters:

     Do not expect the dough to be very manageable even after a good knead.

See also

• baking board
• dough

Anagrams

• Danek, Kaden, naked