See bend the knee on Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "From the medieval European practice of genuflecting to show respect for a superior. Popularized by its use on the television series Game of Thrones (2011-2019).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "bends the knee",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "bending the knee",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "bent the knee",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "bent the knee",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "bend<,,bent> the knee"
},
"expansion": "bend the knee (third-person singular simple present bends the knee, present participle bending the knee, simple past and past participle bent the knee)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
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{
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{
"_dis": "50 23 28",
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{
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{
"_dis": "49 25 27",
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{
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{
"_dis": "48 24 28",
"kind": "other",
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},
{
"_dis": "50 23 27",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "A Song of Ice and Fire",
"orig": "en:A Song of Ice and Fire",
"parents": [
"American fiction",
"Fantasy",
"Literature",
"Fiction",
"United States",
"Speculative fiction",
"Culture",
"Entertainment",
"Writing",
"Artistic works",
"North America",
"Genres",
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"Human behaviour",
"Language",
"Art",
"America",
"All topics",
"Human",
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"Fundamental",
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"source": "w+disamb"
}
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"examples": [
{
"ref": "1905, Max Pemberton, The Hundred Days, page 137:",
"text": "The timid among them declared that he would burn the houses and hang all that had bent the knee to King Louis.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2001, Cynthia Voigt, Elske, page 129:",
"text": "The Earls have power over their lands and people, but must bend the knee to the King and serve as his vassals, just as their own vassals bend the knee to them, and serve them.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2012, David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, “The North Remembers”, in Game of Thrones, season 2, episode 1, spoken by Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane):",
"text": "Joffrey, Renly, Robb Stark: they're all thieves. They'll bend the knee or I'll destroy them.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To swear fealty or allegiance to another person."
],
"id": "en-bend_the_knee-en-verb-KbWFSLtO",
"links": [
[
"swear",
"swear"
],
[
"fealty",
"fealty"
],
[
"allegiance",
"allegiance"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) To swear fealty or allegiance to another person."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
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"examples": [
{
"ref": "1928 January, Ernest C. Wilson, “A King and a Kingdom That Limped”, in Youth, volume 2, number 1, page 13:",
"text": "Jezebel, though she bent the knee to Baal, was pleasing in Ahab’s sight; and he saw that her father’s army, though deplorably pagan, wielded heavy swords.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2001, Beth Moore, Living Free: Learning to Pray God's Word, page 86:",
"text": "We will realize that in our weakness He is strong and that as we bend the knee to His lordship, God is more than able to deliver us.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2006, James W. White, Christianity 101: Tracing Basic Beliefs, page 55:",
"text": "For one thing, Christians refused to bend the knee to anyone but God, certainly not to Caesar.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To submit to or show reverence toward a divine power."
],
"id": "en-bend_the_knee-en-verb-nVmBWkvi",
"links": [
[
"submit",
"submit"
],
[
"divine",
"divine"
],
[
"power",
"power"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) To submit to or show reverence toward a divine power."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "31 65 4",
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "submit to another's authority",
"word": "ajupir-se"
},
{
"_dis1": "31 65 4",
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "submit to another's authority",
"word": "agemolir-se"
},
{
"_dis1": "31 65 4",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "shùncóng",
"sense": "submit to another's authority",
"word": "順從 /顺从"
},
{
"_dis1": "31 65 4",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "submit to another's authority",
"word": "polvistua"
},
{
"_dis1": "31 65 4",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "submit to another's authority",
"word": "courber l’échine"
},
{
"_dis1": "31 65 4",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "submit to another's authority",
"word": "se soumettre"
},
{
"_dis1": "31 65 4",
"code": "grc",
"lang": "Ancient Greek",
"roman": "gónu kámptō",
"sense": "submit to another's authority",
"word": "γόνυ κάμπτω"
},
{
"_dis1": "31 65 4",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "hiza o kussuru",
"sense": "submit to another's authority",
"word": "膝を屈する"
},
{
"_dis1": "31 65 4",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "submit to another's authority",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "iść na pasku"
}
]
},
{
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{
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"kind": "other",
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"examples": [
{
"ref": "1861 April, Frederick Douglass, “The Inaugural Address”, in Douglass' Monthly, volume III, number XI, page 434:",
"text": "Some thought we had in Mr. [Abraham] Lincoln the nerve and decision of an Oliver Cromwell; but the result shows that we merely have a continuation of the Pierces and Buchanans, and that the Republican President bends the knee to slavery as readily as any of his infamous predecessors.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2013, Gary Shapiro, Ninja Innovation: The Ten Killer Strategies of the World's Most Successful Businesses, page 117:",
"text": "But there's something more sinister in the need for companies to bend the knee to Washington politicians.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2016, Stuart Jeffries, Grand Hotel Abyss: The Lives of the Frankfurt School, page 166:",
"text": "Kafka had bent the knee to his father’s desires and taken a job in an insurance office.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To show undue deference, obedience, or support for someone or something."
],
"id": "en-bend_the_knee-en-verb-bHsrnT66",
"links": [
[
"undue",
"undue"
],
[
"deference",
"deference"
],
[
"obedience",
"obedience"
],
[
"support",
"support"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, by extension) To show undue deference, obedience, or support for someone or something."
],
"tags": [
"broadly",
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-bend the knee.ogg",
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"wikipedia": [
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],
"word": "bend the knee"
}
{
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"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English verbs",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Terms with Ancient Greek translations",
"Terms with Catalan translations",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with Japanese translations",
"Terms with Mandarin translations",
"Terms with Polish translations",
"en:A Song of Ice and Fire"
],
"etymology_text": "From the medieval European practice of genuflecting to show respect for a superior. Popularized by its use on the television series Game of Thrones (2011-2019).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "bends the knee",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "bending the knee",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "bent the knee",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "bent the knee",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
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{
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},
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"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English idioms",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1905, Max Pemberton, The Hundred Days, page 137:",
"text": "The timid among them declared that he would burn the houses and hang all that had bent the knee to King Louis.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2001, Cynthia Voigt, Elske, page 129:",
"text": "The Earls have power over their lands and people, but must bend the knee to the King and serve as his vassals, just as their own vassals bend the knee to them, and serve them.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2012, David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, “The North Remembers”, in Game of Thrones, season 2, episode 1, spoken by Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane):",
"text": "Joffrey, Renly, Robb Stark: they're all thieves. They'll bend the knee or I'll destroy them.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To swear fealty or allegiance to another person."
],
"links": [
[
"swear",
"swear"
],
[
"fealty",
"fealty"
],
[
"allegiance",
"allegiance"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) To swear fealty or allegiance to another person."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English idioms",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1928 January, Ernest C. Wilson, “A King and a Kingdom That Limped”, in Youth, volume 2, number 1, page 13:",
"text": "Jezebel, though she bent the knee to Baal, was pleasing in Ahab’s sight; and he saw that her father’s army, though deplorably pagan, wielded heavy swords.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2001, Beth Moore, Living Free: Learning to Pray God's Word, page 86:",
"text": "We will realize that in our weakness He is strong and that as we bend the knee to His lordship, God is more than able to deliver us.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2006, James W. White, Christianity 101: Tracing Basic Beliefs, page 55:",
"text": "For one thing, Christians refused to bend the knee to anyone but God, certainly not to Caesar.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To submit to or show reverence toward a divine power."
],
"links": [
[
"submit",
"submit"
],
[
"divine",
"divine"
],
[
"power",
"power"
]
],
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"(idiomatic) To submit to or show reverence toward a divine power."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English idioms",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1861 April, Frederick Douglass, “The Inaugural Address”, in Douglass' Monthly, volume III, number XI, page 434:",
"text": "Some thought we had in Mr. [Abraham] Lincoln the nerve and decision of an Oliver Cromwell; but the result shows that we merely have a continuation of the Pierces and Buchanans, and that the Republican President bends the knee to slavery as readily as any of his infamous predecessors.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2013, Gary Shapiro, Ninja Innovation: The Ten Killer Strategies of the World's Most Successful Businesses, page 117:",
"text": "But there's something more sinister in the need for companies to bend the knee to Washington politicians.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2016, Stuart Jeffries, Grand Hotel Abyss: The Lives of the Frankfurt School, page 166:",
"text": "Kafka had bent the knee to his father’s desires and taken a job in an insurance office.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To show undue deference, obedience, or support for someone or something."
],
"links": [
[
"undue",
"undue"
],
[
"deference",
"deference"
],
[
"obedience",
"obedience"
],
[
"support",
"support"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, by extension) To show undue deference, obedience, or support for someone or something."
],
"tags": [
"broadly",
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-bend the knee.ogg",
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"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/En-au-bend_the_knee.ogg"
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"translations": [
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "submit to another's authority",
"word": "ajupir-se"
},
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "submit to another's authority",
"word": "agemolir-se"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "shùncóng",
"sense": "submit to another's authority",
"word": "順從 /顺从"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "submit to another's authority",
"word": "polvistua"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "submit to another's authority",
"word": "courber l’échine"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "submit to another's authority",
"word": "se soumettre"
},
{
"code": "grc",
"lang": "Ancient Greek",
"roman": "gónu kámptō",
"sense": "submit to another's authority",
"word": "γόνυ κάμπτω"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "hiza o kussuru",
"sense": "submit to another's authority",
"word": "膝を屈する"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "submit to another's authority",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "iść na pasku"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Game of Thrones"
],
"word": "bend the knee"
}
Download raw JSONL data for bend the knee meaning in All languages combined (6.0kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-17 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-02-02 using wiktextract (ca09fec and c40eb85). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.