kneecap

See also: knee-cap and knee cap

English

Etymology

knee +‎ cap

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈniːˌkæp/, enPR: nē'kăp

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːkæp

Noun

kneecap (plural kneecaps)

1. (anatomy) The flat, roundish bone in the knee.

   Synonyms: kneepan, patella, rotula, scutum

2. (roofing) A metal cover trim that fits over a panel rib after it has been cut and bent.
3. A cap or strong covering for the knees, used chiefly for horses, to protect their knees in case of a fall.

Translations

bone

• Afrikaans: knieskyf
• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: رَضَفَة f (raḍafa)

  Egyptian Arabic: صبونة f (ṣabuna)

• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܙܵܒ݂ܘܼܪܬܵܐ ܕܥܲܛܡܵܐ f

• Armenian: ծնկոսկր (hy) (cnkoskr)
• Azerbaijani: diz qapağı
• Bashkir: тубыҡ ҡапҡасы (tubıq qapqası)
• Basque: belaunburu
• Breton: mell-glin m
• Brunei Malay: kapala tuhut
• Bulgarian: патела (bg) f (patela), капачка на коляното (kapačka na koljanoto)
• Burmese: ဒူးခေါင်း (my) (du:hkaung:)
• Catalan: ròtula (ca) f, patel·la f
• Central Melanau: sulau bukou
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 膝蓋骨／膝盖骨 (zh) (xīgàigǔ)

• Cornish: penn glin m
• Czech: čéška (cs) f
• Danish: knæskal (da) c
• Dhivehi: ފިޔަން ކަށިގަނޑު (fiyan̊ kaṣigaⁿḍu)
• Dutch: knieschijf (nl) f or m, patella (nl) f or m
• Esperanto: patelo
• Finnish: polvilumpio (fi)
• French: rotule (fr) f
• Galician: rodela f, rótula (gl) f
• Georgian: კვირისთავი (ḳviristavi), სამუხლე (samuxle)
• German: Kniescheibe (de) f, Patella (de) f
• Greek: επιγονατίδα (el) f (epigonatída)
• Guaraní: penarã
• Hebrew: פיקה (he) f (piká)
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: térdkalács (hu)
• Icelandic: hnéskel (is) f
• Indonesian: tempurung lutut (id), patela (id), cencawan (id), kunci-kunci lutut
• Ingrian: polvensilmä, polvenkakku
• Irish: gealacán m, gealacán glúine m, caipín glúine m
• Italian: rotula (it) f, patella f
• Japanese: 膝蓋骨 (ja) (しつがいこつ, shitsugaikotsu)
• Kannada: ಮಂಡಿಚಿಪ್ಪು (kn) (maṇḍicippu)
• Kapampangan: bulakus
• Khmer: ក្បាលជង្គង់ (kbaal cŭəngkŭəng)
• Korean: 슬개골(膝蓋骨) (ko) (seulgaegol), 무릎뼈 (ko) (mureupppyeo)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: kulavê çokê

• Lao: ຫມາກບ້າຫົວເຂົ່າ (māk bā hūa khao), ສະບັງ (sa bang), ຊານຸມົນທົນ (sā nu mon thon)
• Latin: patella f
• Luxembourgish: Knéischeif f
• Malay: tempurung lutut, cencawan, kunci-kunci lutut, patela
• Malayalam: മുട്ടിൻചിരട്ട (muṭṭiṉciraṭṭa)
• Maltese: please add this translation if you can
• Maori: popoki
• Mongolian: тойг (mn) (tojg)
• Nepali: please add this translation if you can
• Newar: पुलिक्वँय् (pulikwãê)
• Norman: palette du g'nou f (Jersey)
• Northern Sami: čibbeskálžu
• Ottoman Turkish: دیز قپاغی (diz kapağı)
• Persian: کشکک (fa) (kaškak)
• Polish: rzepka (pl) f
• Portuguese: rótula (pt), patela (pt) f
• Russian: коле́нная ча́шечка f (kolénnaja čášečka), надколе́нник (ru) m (nadkolénnik), надколе́нная ча́шка f (nadkolénnaja čáška)
• Sanskrit: कपोल (sa) m (kapola)
• Saraiki: چُھوݨی (skr) f (chūṇī)
• Scottish Gaelic: failmean m
• Serbo-Croatian: please add this translation if you can
• Slovene: pogačica (sl) f
• Spanish: rótula (es) f
• Swedish: knäskål (sv) c
• Tagalog: suklob-tuhod, suklob ng tuhod, bayugo
• Telugu: మోకాటి చిప్ప (mōkāṭi cippa)
• Thai: สะบ้า (sà-bâa)
• Tibetan: པུས་མོའི་ལྷ་ང (pus mo'i lha nga)
• Turkish: diz kapağı (tr), patella
• Ukrainian: колі́нна ча́шечка f (kolínna čášečka), наколі́нок m (nakolínok), надколі́нок m (nadkolínok), наколі́нник m (nakolínnyk), надколі́нник m (nadkolínnyk)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
• Volapük: patel
• Welsh: padell pen-glin f, pellen pen-glin f
• White Hmong: pob hauv caug

Verb

kneecap (third-person singular simple present kneecaps, present participle kneecapping, simple past and past participle kneecapped)

1. (transitive) To destroy the knees of (a person), usually by shooting at the knees, as a punishment carried out by criminals or terrorists.
   • 2020, Liam Kennedy, Who Was Responsible for the Troubles?, McGill-Queen's Press, →ISBN, page 109:

     The Sinn Féin press officer Richard McAuley freely admitted, “Back four or five years ago, people were getting kneecapped who should not have been kneecapped.”

2. (transitive, figurative, by extension) To attack (someone) in a way that is excessively and needlessly damaging: To cut (someone) off at the knees.

Usage notes

• The literal sense of this term is considered a misnomer by medical professionals because only a very small minority of victims suffer damage to the kneecap.

Related terms

• kneecapping
• kneecapper

Translations

to destroy the knees

• Italian: gambizzare (it), azzoppare (it)