knee-crooking

English

Etymology

Compare bend the knee.

Adjective

knee-crooking (not comparable)

1. Obsequious; submissive.
   • 2009, Terence Barnett Magness, The Brood of Time, page 378:

     With his usual dose of commonsense he recognized that nothing could really change the status quo, and all that a knee-crooking knave might do in protest was to sneak a line or two into his verse simply to let off steam […]

   • 2022, Ottilie A. Liljencrantz, The Thrall of Leif the Lucky: A Story of Viking Days:

     The Norman said nothing, but he did what the bystanders considered rather surprising in a knee-crooking Frenchman. Neither bending his body nor doffing his helmet, he folded his arms across his breast and looked straight into the Lucky One's eyes.