knee (redirected from bowing knee)

at your mother's knee

if you learned to do something at your mother's knee, you learned it when you were a young child. I learned to sew at my mother's knee.

be knee-deep in something

to have too much of something. I'm knee-deep in work at the moment, so I'm not stopping for lunch.

be knee-high to a grasshopper (humorous)

to be very young. The last time I came here I was knee-high to a grasshopper.

be the bee's knees (British & Australian, informal)

to be extremely good. Have you tried this double chocolate-chip ice cream? It's the bee's knees, it really is.

bring someone/something to their knees

to destroy or defeat someone or something. Sanctions were imposed in an attempt to bring the country to its knees. The strikes brought the economy to its knees.

See also: bring

on bended knee/knees (humorous)

if you ask for something on bended knee, you ask very politely or with a lot of emotion for something that you want very much. I had to go down on bended knee and beg my Dad to let me have the party. He begged me on bended knee to marry him.

See also: bended

put someone over your knee (old-fashioned)

to punish a child by hitting them on the bottom. Her father threatened to put her over his knee if she missed school again.

See also: over

weak at the knees

if someone goes weak at the knees, they feel as if they might fall down because they have a sudden strong emotion about something or someone. The very thought of jumping out of an aircraft with a parachute made him go weak at the knees. He was so gorgeous, I felt weak at the knees every time he spoke to me.

See also: weak

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at someone's knee

from someone older when you were young. His father was a programmer in the early days of computers, and Briggs learned all about them at his dad's knee.

Etymology: based on the idea of a child standing next to or being the height of someone's knee

bring you/something to your/its knees

to defeat or stop someone or something. Severe oil shortages could bring our economy to its knees. They played a great game and brought our local basketball champs to their knees.

See also: bring

on bended knee

like a servant. The governors have to ask on bended knee for more money from Washington to pay for increased security.

See also: bended

on your/its knees

not operating well. Many retail stores are already on their knees and some might have to close.