"take a knee" meaning in All languages combined

See take a knee on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

Forms: takes a knee [present, singular, third-person], taking a knee [participle, present], took a knee [past], taken a knee [participle, past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|take<,,took,taken> a knee}} take a knee (third-person singular simple present takes a knee, present participle taking a knee, simple past took a knee, past participle taken a knee)
  1. To come to rest, usually briefly, with one of one's knees on the ground.
    Sense id: en-take_a_knee-en-verb-IjPbuPeZ Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 55 17 14 14 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 56 15 15 15 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 58 13 14 15
  2. (American football, Canadian football) Of any player with the ball, to kneel and place the ball on the ground, thereby ending the play and indicating they do not intend to advance with the ball. Tags: Canadian Categories (topical): Canadian football, Football (American)
    Sense id: en-take_a_knee-en-verb-K3AOk2mz Topics: American-football, ball-games, football, games, hobbies, lifestyle, sports
  3. To cease performing customary activities or duties and kneel on one knee, sometimes as a form of protest.
    Sense id: en-take_a_knee-en-verb-c~26NilW
  4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see take, knee. Synonyms: take the knee Related terms: bend the knee, kneel, genuflect, genuflect offense [American-football, football, ball-games, games, sports, hobbies, lifestyle], quarterback kneel [American-football, football, ball-games, games, sports, hobbies, lifestyle], victory formation [American-football, football, ball-games, games, sports, hobbies, lifestyle]
    Sense id: en-take_a_knee-en-verb--KvJKn-N

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "takes a knee",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "taking a knee",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "took a knee",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "taken a knee",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "take<,,took,taken> a knee"
      },
      "expansion": "take a knee (third-person singular simple present takes a knee, present participle taking a knee, simple past took a knee, past participle taken a knee)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "55 17 14 14",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "56 15 15 15",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "58 13 14 15",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1972 November 6, Tim Wood, “Tale of the tape and dig those shoes”, in The Tampa Times, page 31:",
          "text": "Levon Berry, a 288-pound tackle for S. Pete, decided to take a knee and adjust the adhesive tape that's wrapped around his street shoes.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1987, Joseph Monninger, Second Season, page 142:",
          "text": "\"Take a knee, take a knee,\" he said as each group came to him. Brennan knelt to Bonow's right. He plucked a few blades of grass and sucked them, tasting dirt and fertilizer and lime.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To come to rest, usually briefly, with one of one's knees on the ground."
      ],
      "id": "en-take_a_knee-en-verb-IjPbuPeZ",
      "links": [
        [
          "ground",
          "ground"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Canadian football",
          "orig": "en:Canadian football",
          "parents": [
            "Football",
            "Ball games",
            "Sports",
            "Human activity",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Football (American)",
          "orig": "en:Football (American)",
          "parents": [
            "Football",
            "Ball games",
            "Sports",
            "Human activity",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2011 August 6, Judy Battista, “Take a Knee or Take a Risk”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:",
          "text": "The N.F.L. estimates that number could rise to 30 percent, but special-teams coaches say at least 40 percent of kickoffs will end with the returner taking a knee in the end zone.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of any player with the ball, to kneel and place the ball on the ground, thereby ending the play and indicating they do not intend to advance with the ball."
      ],
      "id": "en-take_a_knee-en-verb-K3AOk2mz",
      "links": [
        [
          "American football",
          "American football"
        ],
        [
          "Canadian football",
          "Canadian football"
        ],
        [
          "kneel",
          "kneel"
        ],
        [
          "play",
          "play"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(American football, Canadian football) Of any player with the ball, to kneel and place the ball on the ground, thereby ending the play and indicating they do not intend to advance with the ball."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canadian"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "American-football",
        "ball-games",
        "football",
        "games",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "sports"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2015 September 2, “Anthony Batts says police 'took a knee' after Baltimore riots”, in Baltimore Sun:",
          "text": "Former Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said Wednesday night that officers \"took a knee\" after the April riots following the death of Freddie Gray, allowing crime to spike because they felt a lack of support from commanders.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017 September 25, Lee Siegel, “Why Kaepernick Takes the Knee”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:",
          "text": "Likewise, when black players take a knee during the national anthem to protest police violence against African-Americans, they are making a gesture of pain and distress. They are putting America in a more honest context — our “Star-Spangled Banner” dimly seen through the mists of deep injury.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2021 May 20, Sean Ingle, “Adam Gemili ‘would take a knee’ in Tokyo and warns IOC over protest ban”, in The Guardian:",
          "text": "Adam Gemili has vowed to take a knee in support of Black Lives Matter if he wins an Olympic medal in Tokyo – and warned the IOC that “all hell will break loose” if it tries to ban athletes from protesting on the podium.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To cease performing customary activities or duties and kneel on one knee, sometimes as a form of protest."
      ],
      "id": "en-take_a_knee-en-verb-c~26NilW",
      "links": [
        [
          "protest",
          "protest"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "During the play he took a knee to the helmet.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see take, knee."
      ],
      "id": "en-take_a_knee-en-verb--KvJKn-N",
      "links": [
        [
          "take",
          "take#English"
        ],
        [
          "knee",
          "knee#English"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "10 4 33 54",
          "word": "bend the knee"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 4 33 54",
          "word": "kneel"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 4 33 54",
          "word": "genuflect"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 4 33 54",
          "topics": [
            "American-football",
            "football",
            "ball-games",
            "games",
            "sports",
            "hobbies",
            "lifestyle"
          ],
          "word": "genuflect offense"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 4 33 54",
          "topics": [
            "American-football",
            "football",
            "ball-games",
            "games",
            "sports",
            "hobbies",
            "lifestyle"
          ],
          "word": "quarterback kneel"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 4 33 54",
          "topics": [
            "American-football",
            "football",
            "ball-games",
            "games",
            "sports",
            "hobbies",
            "lifestyle"
          ],
          "word": "victory formation"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "10 4 33 54",
          "word": "take the knee"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "take a knee"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "takes a knee",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "taking a knee",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "took a knee",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "taken a knee",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "take<,,took,taken> a knee"
      },
      "expansion": "take a knee (third-person singular simple present takes a knee, present participle taking a knee, simple past took a knee, past participle taken a knee)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "bend the knee"
    },
    {
      "word": "kneel"
    },
    {
      "word": "genuflect"
    },
    {
      "topics": [
        "American-football",
        "football",
        "ball-games",
        "games",
        "sports",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle"
      ],
      "word": "genuflect offense"
    },
    {
      "topics": [
        "American-football",
        "football",
        "ball-games",
        "games",
        "sports",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle"
      ],
      "word": "quarterback kneel"
    },
    {
      "topics": [
        "American-football",
        "football",
        "ball-games",
        "games",
        "sports",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle"
      ],
      "word": "victory formation"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1972 November 6, Tim Wood, “Tale of the tape and dig those shoes”, in The Tampa Times, page 31:",
          "text": "Levon Berry, a 288-pound tackle for S. Pete, decided to take a knee and adjust the adhesive tape that's wrapped around his street shoes.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1987, Joseph Monninger, Second Season, page 142:",
          "text": "\"Take a knee, take a knee,\" he said as each group came to him. Brennan knelt to Bonow's right. He plucked a few blades of grass and sucked them, tasting dirt and fertilizer and lime.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To come to rest, usually briefly, with one of one's knees on the ground."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "ground",
          "ground"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "en:Canadian football",
        "en:Football (American)"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2011 August 6, Judy Battista, “Take a Knee or Take a Risk”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:",
          "text": "The N.F.L. estimates that number could rise to 30 percent, but special-teams coaches say at least 40 percent of kickoffs will end with the returner taking a knee in the end zone.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of any player with the ball, to kneel and place the ball on the ground, thereby ending the play and indicating they do not intend to advance with the ball."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "American football",
          "American football"
        ],
        [
          "Canadian football",
          "Canadian football"
        ],
        [
          "kneel",
          "kneel"
        ],
        [
          "play",
          "play"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(American football, Canadian football) Of any player with the ball, to kneel and place the ball on the ground, thereby ending the play and indicating they do not intend to advance with the ball."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canadian"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "American-football",
        "ball-games",
        "football",
        "games",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "sports"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2015 September 2, “Anthony Batts says police 'took a knee' after Baltimore riots”, in Baltimore Sun:",
          "text": "Former Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said Wednesday night that officers \"took a knee\" after the April riots following the death of Freddie Gray, allowing crime to spike because they felt a lack of support from commanders.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017 September 25, Lee Siegel, “Why Kaepernick Takes the Knee”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:",
          "text": "Likewise, when black players take a knee during the national anthem to protest police violence against African-Americans, they are making a gesture of pain and distress. They are putting America in a more honest context — our “Star-Spangled Banner” dimly seen through the mists of deep injury.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2021 May 20, Sean Ingle, “Adam Gemili ‘would take a knee’ in Tokyo and warns IOC over protest ban”, in The Guardian:",
          "text": "Adam Gemili has vowed to take a knee in support of Black Lives Matter if he wins an Olympic medal in Tokyo – and warned the IOC that “all hell will break loose” if it tries to ban athletes from protesting on the podium.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To cease performing customary activities or duties and kneel on one knee, sometimes as a form of protest."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "protest",
          "protest"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "During the play he took a knee to the helmet.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see take, knee."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "take",
          "take#English"
        ],
        [
          "knee",
          "knee#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "take the knee"
    }
  ],
  "word": "take a knee"
}

Download raw JSONL data for take a knee meaning in All languages combined (4.7kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-11-21 using wiktextract (94ba7e1 and 5dea2a6). 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.