door-knob
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Forms: form: door-knobs
Senses: examples: text: The house being now cleared, brass door-knobs were knocked off, and such things as had escaped notice when articles of more value were to be had, were now being gathered.
ref: 1873 September, Charles Brownlee, “The Old Peach Tree Stump. A Reminiscence of the War of 1835.”, in [Roderick] Noble, editor, The Cape Monthly Magazine, volume VII, number 39, Cape Town: J. C. Juta, page 139:
text: About 1851 J. Dodge & Son began in the middle of the town to manufacture wooden door-knobs, and afterwards made bedsteads.
ref: 1891, Lewis Cass Aldrich, Frank R. Holmes, editors, History of Windsor County, Vermont, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Syracuse, N.Y.: D. Mason & Co., […], page 632:
text: As a rule it is a mistake to economize in the selection of hardware, especially in the matter of door-knobs, locks, escutcheons, etc.
ref: 1897, Francis C[ruger] Moore, “The Comforts of Home”, in How to Build a Home: The House Practical; Being Suggestions as to Safety from Fire, Safety to Health, Comfort, Convenience, Durability, and Economy, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday & McClure Co., →OCLC, page 60:
text: I believe that in India “cold weather” is merely a conventional phrase and has come into use through the necessity of having some way to distinguish between weather which will melt a brass door-knob and weather which will only make it mushy.
ref: 1897, Mark Twain, Following the Equator […] , New York: American Publishing Company, page 523:
text: I bought some lovely brass door-knobs for some interior doors.
ref: 1999 December 19, M.M., “Try bricks for new patio”, in Sunday Star-Gazette, New York edition, volume 122, number 20, Elmira, N.Y., →OCLC, page 5D, column 2:
text: All manner of items are on display here, from old-fashioned doorbells, to heavy-duty locks to brass door-knobs and even Indian shelf-brackets.
ref: 2000 January 13, “Shop talk: Opening the door to the past”, in Evening Press, Yorkshire county edition, York, North Yorkshire, →OCLC, page 12, column 6:
text: She continues to make hummus for us, delivering it unobtrusively by hanging a shopping bag from my door-knob, ringing the doorbell, and quietly walking away.
ref: 2001 October 4, Karen Koretsky Dillon, “Two cultures, two faiths, and one special friendship”, in The Boston Globe, Boston, Mass., →ISSN, →OCLC, page H3, column 2:
text: New HP printer (in box), designer clothes, TV, lamps, leather roll-on bag, skis/boots, brass door-knobs, pics, jewelry, cat tree and cube, 2 like-new sleeping bags, 2 wall sconces. Cleaning out two houses!
ref: 2012 May 3, “Classifieds”, in Daily Press, Newport News, Va., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 7, column 4:
text: Despite not being “handy” in any way, I like to do my bit, so I thought I’d clean the brass door-knobs while my wife was out. Unsure of the correct procedure, I Googled “cleaning brass door-knobs” and an unexpected suggestion popped up. I was advised that I could save money on Brasso by smearing my door-knobs with ketchup.
ref: 2018 September 13, Peter Barron, “Grandad at Large: Caught red-handed”, in The Northern Echo, Darlington, County Durham, →OCLC, page 49, column 4:
glosses: Alternative form of doorknob.