knobby

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English knob

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Germanic *-gaz

Proto-West Germanic *-g

Old English -iġ

Middle English -y

English -y

English knobby

From knob + -y.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈnɒbi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈnɑbi/

  Rhymes: -ɒbi

• Homophone: Nobby

Adjective

knobby (comparative knobbier, superlative knobbiest)

1. Resembling a knob.
   • 1871, New York Medical Journal - Volume 14, page 431:

     They appeared, upon section, like wedge-shaped, knobby formations, penetrating into the placenta fetalis, and were thus found in three places ; the smallest was 3 mm. and the largest was 15 mm. in diameter.

   • 2012, Carrie Weaver, Baby, I'M Yours, →ISBN:

     The baby kicked energetically. She caressed a knobby knee or elbow.

2. Having many knobs or knob-like projections.

   Synonym: (formal) nodose

   • 1860, The Encyclopaedia Britannica:

     The large open leaves and large knobby leaves were picked out by hand, and formed the finest sort of "hyson skin" (known commercially as pretty good bloom, brightish hyson kind mixed, knobby leaf); the remaining leaves were hyson.

   • 1943, Fauna R. Overlay, Place Names Of Five South Central Counties Of Missouri‎^[1], M.A. thesis., University of Missouri-Columbia, archived from the original on 24 June 2016:

     Knobby Creek rises in the center part of Union Township, flowing north where it empties into the Osage River. Name suggested by the "knobby" character of the surrounding country, i.e. full of "knobs" or low hills. Sometimes called Beaver Creek, from the animal found here in early days.

   • 1975, Lunar Science Institute, Proceedings of the Sixth Lunar Science Conference, Houston, Texas:

     Further evidence for the correlation of basin structures arises from the spatial relation in both basins of the massifs to the associated knobby terrain.

   • 1988, NASA Technical Memorandum - Issue 4041, page 456:

     The oldest surface identified has a crater retention age N(l) 230,000 and is found below the knobby terrain (K).

Derived terms

• knobbily
• knobbiness
• knobbly
• knobby-kneed
• knobby seahorse
• knobby starfish

Translations

resembling a knob

• German: knotig, knubbelig
• Polish: guzowaty (pl)

having many knobs or knob-like projections

• German: huckelig, höckerig
• Polish: pagórkowaty (pl)
• Spanish: con cocada (of tires)

Noun

knobby (plural knobbies)

1. (Scotland) The end or heel of a loaf of bread.
2. A knobbly piece; a lump.
   • 2017, Jenny Landreth, Swell: A Waterbiography (page 15)

     The little broken bits of hot dog, the knobbies floating at the bottom of the pan, I sold off cheap to the scamps and scoundrels of Sutton who were many and various.

3. (Cornwall) A saffron bun.
   • 2025, Eleanora H. Stooke, Little Sunbeam

     […] bread-and-butter and various kinds of preserves in glass dishes, an old china bowl full of clotted cream, a plum cake, and some saffron buns—"knobbies" as they are called in Cornwall.