# knead
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English kneden, from Old English cnedan, from Proto-West Germanic *knedan, from Proto-Germanic *knudaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gnet- (“to press together”).

### Pronunciation

* (UK, US) enPR: nēd, IPA: /niːd/
* (Early Modern) IPA: /knɛːd/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -iːd
* Homophones: kneed, need

### Verb

knead (third-person singular simple present kneads, present participle kneading, simple past kneaded or (obsolete) knead, past participle kneaded or (archaic) kneaden or (obsolete) knodden)
* (transitive) To work and press into a mass, usually with the hands; especially, to work, as by repeated pressure with the knuckles, into a well mixed mass, the materials of bread, cake, etc.
** 2001, Özcan Ozan, Carl Tremblay, The Sultan's Kitchen: A Turkish Cookbook:Knead the dough by pressing down on it with the heels of both your palms and pushing it forward to stretch it, then pulling it back toward you...
* (transitive, figuratively) To treat or form as if by kneading; to beat.
** c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:I will knead him: I'll make him supple.
* (intransitive, felinology) Of cats, to make an alternating pressing motion with the two front paws.
** 1991, Grace McHattie, That's cats!: a compendium of feline facts:Cats knead with their paws when happy, just as they kneaded when feeding from their mothers as kittens.
** 2001, John C. Wright, Judi Wright Lashnits, Ain't Misbehavin', Rodale, →ISBN, page 44:One of the most characteristic things that cats do is ”knead,” pushing their paws alternately against any invitingly soft area of their human friends' bodies like a baker kneading dough.
** 2012, Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Cat Lover's Companion‎, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:Why do cats knead? When kittens are nursing, they knead against their mothers' bellies to draw out milk. A relaxed adult cat kneads your leg or a couch cushion to show that he's happy and content, as he was when he was a nursing baby.
* (transitive) To mix thoroughly; form into a homogeneous compound.

#### Synonyms

* (mix): amalgamate
* (of cats, to make an alternating pressing motion): make biscuits
* (of cats, to make an alternating pressing motion): make muffins

#### Translations

Albanian: mbruaj, ngjesh (sq)
Arabic: عَجَنَ (ar) (ʕajana), دَلَكَ (dalaka)
Moroccan Arabic: عْجن (ʕjən)
Armenian: հունցել (hy) (huncʻel) (dough)
Aromanian: frimintu
Azerbaijani: ovmaq, yoğurmaq (az) (dough etc)
Belarusian: мясі́ць impf (mjasícʹ)
Bulgarian: меся (bg) pf (mesja), замесвам (bg) impf (zamesvam), замеся pf (zamesja)
Burmese: နယ် (my) (nai)
Catalan: amassar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 捏 (zh) (niē), 揉 (zh) (róu), 搓揉 (zh) (cuōróu)
Czech: hníst (cs) impf
Danish: ælte
Dutch: kneden (nl)
Egyptian: (hbhb)
Erzya: ичемс (ičems)
Esperanto: knedi (eo)
Even: монӈа- (monŋa-)
Evenki: мэнӈимӣ (mənŋimī)
Faliscan: fico (fico)
Finnish: vaivata (fi), sotkea (fi)
French: pétrir (fr)
Gagauz: yuurmaa
Galician: amasar (gl), gramar (gl), traballar (gl)
Georgian: ზელა (zela), ჟღვლემა (žɣvlema), მოზელა (mozela), დაზელა (dazela)
German: kneten (de)
Greek: ζυμώνω (el) (zymóno)
Ancient: μάσσω (mássō), φυράω (phuráō)
Haitian Creole: petri
Hebrew: לָשׁ (he)
Hungarian: dagaszt (hu), gyúr (hu)
Ido: petrisar (io)
Interlingua: impastar
Italian: manipolare (it), impastare (it), massaggiare (it), amalgamare (it), comprimere (it)
Japanese: 捏ねる (ja) (こねる, koneru), 練る (ja) (ねる, neru)
Karakhanid: یُغُرْماقْ (yuɣurmak)
Khmer: ច្របល់ (km) (crɑbɑl)
Korean: 이기다 (ko) (igida)
Kyrgyz: жууруу (juuruu)
Latin: depsō, fingō
Macedonian: меси impf (mesi)
Malayalam: കുഴയ്ക്കുക (kuḻaykkuka)
Maltese: għaġen
Maori: pokepoke, pōpō
Middle English: kneden
Mongolian: зуурах (mn) (zuurax)
Nanai: монгичи- (moŋiči-)
Norman: pêtri
Norwegian: kna (no)
Ottoman Turkish: یوغورمق (yuğurmak, yoğurmak)
Pashto: اخښل (ps) (akhssəl)
Persian: ورز دادن (fa) (varz dâdan), سرشتن (fa) (sereštan)
Polabian: gnest
Polish: gnieść (pl) impf, ugniatać (pl) impf, zagniatać (pl) impf, miesić (pl) impf
Portuguese: amassar (pt), sovar (pt)
Quechua: q'apiy
Romanian: frământa (ro)
Russian: меси́ть (ru) impf (mesítʹ), заме́шивать (ru) impf (zaméšivatʹ), замеси́ть (ru) pf (zamesítʹ)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: гњечити impf
Roman: gnječiti (sh) impf
Slovak: miesiť, hniesť
Slovene: mesiti (sl) (for dough uniquely), gnesti
Southern Altai: јура- (ǰura-)
Spanish: amasar (es), mullir (es), malaxar (Peru)
Swedish: knåda (sv)
Tagalog: lapisain
Thai: นวด (th) (nûuat)
Turkish: yoğurmak (tr)
Turkmen: ýugurmak
Tày: cặn
Udmurt: лайыны (lajyny)
Ukrainian: міси́ти impf (misýty)
Uyghur: يۇغۇرماق (yughurmaq)
Vietnamese: nhào (vi)
Walloon: prusti (wa)
Welsh: tylino (cy)
Yiddish: קנעטן (knetn)
Zazaki: alawıtene (diq), ra'lütene, mişte kerdene :

### Noun

knead (plural kneads)
* The act of kneading something.
** 2011, Andrew Whitley, Bread Matters:Do not expect the dough to be very manageable even after a good knead.

### See also

* baking board
* dough

### References

* ↑ Dobson, E. J. (1957) English pronunciation 1500-1700‎, second edition, volume II: Phonology, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1968, →OCLC, § 416, page 976: “In OE and ME [k] in the initial group kn- in, for example, knife had the same pronunciation as before other consonants (e.g. [l] in cliff), and is retained as [k] by all sixteenth- and most seventeenth-century orthoepists.”.

### Anagrams

* Danek, Kaden, naked