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Wiktionary The Free Dictionary

take a knee

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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US soldiers taking a knee

Alternative forms

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Verb

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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.
    • 1972 November 6, Tim Wood, "Tale of the tape and dig those shoes", in The Tampa Times, page 31:
      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.
    • 1987, Joseph Monninger, Second Season, page 142:
      "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.
  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.
    • 2011 August 6, Judy Battista, "Take a Knee or Take a Risk", in The New York Times ‎[1] , →ISSN, archived from the original on 16 July 2021:
      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.
  3. To cease performing customary activities or duties and kneel on one knee, sometimes as a form of protest.
    • 2015 September 2, "Anthony Batts says police 'took a knee' after Baltimore riots", in Baltimore Sun:
      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.
    • 2017 September 25, Lee Siegel, "Why Kaepernick Takes the Knee", in The New York Times ‎[2] , →ISSN, archived from the original on 16 July 2021:
      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.
    • 2021 May 20, Sean Ingle, "Adam Gemili ‘would take a knee’ in Tokyo and warns IOC over protest ban", in The Guardian ‎[3] , archived from the original on 16 July 2021:
      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.
  4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see take ,‎ knee .
    During the play he took a knee to the helmet.

See also

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Further reading

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