KNUCKLE (apparently the diminutive of a word for "

See also:

• BONE (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages, in many of which it is confined to the shank of the leg, as in the German Bein)
• BONE, HENRY (1755-1834)

bone," found in Ger. Knochen)  , the joint of a finger, which, when the hand is shut, is brought into prominence . In mechanical use the word is applied to the round projecting part of a hinge through which the pin is run, and in ship-building to an acute angle on some of the timbers . A " knuckle-duster," said to have originally cor.Ae from the criminal slang of the United States, is a brass or metal instrument fitting on to the hand across the knuckles, with projecting studs and used for inflicting a brutal blow .