knobbly

«knobbly» in Mova's school dictionary: covered with small round lumps or bumps — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (knobbly, knobblier, knobbliest); US often «knobby»

meaning for a pupil

1) Knobbly means covered with small round lumps or bumps. tree →

2) Knobbly knees are bony knees that stick out. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life and stories it describes old trees, tree roots, potatoes, walking sticks or a knobbly old man's hands. In science lessons on materials or plants it describes bumpy textures. Phrases: «knobbly knees», «a knobbly stick», «knobbly tyres».

examples

• The old oak tree had a knobbly trunk. tree →
• He laughed at his own knobbly knees in his shorts. tree →
• The mountain bike has knobbly tyres for mud. tree →
• Gran's knobbly walking stick is made from a branch. tree →
• Ginger is a knobbly root. tree →
• The toad's back was knobbly and brown. tree →

note

Mainly UK, Australia and New Zealand; the USA usually says «knobby». The «k» is silent: «NOB-lee». Comes from «knob» (a round lump or handle).

In the corpora

• They came from the cold Andes mountains of South America, where thousands of purple, red and knobbly kinds still grow.
• Mountain bikes have wide, knobbly tyres for grip on mud, and road bikes have thin, smooth ones for speed.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «knobbly» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.