knack

knack

See also: Knack and knäck

English

Etymology

Use as "special skill" from 1580.[1] Possibly from 14th century Middle English krak (“a sharp blow”), knakke, knakken, from Middle Low German, by onomatopoeia. Latter cognate to German knacken (“to crack”). See also crack.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /næk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

• Rhymes: -æk

Noun

knack (plural knacks)

1. A readiness in performance; aptness at doing something. [from 1580]

   Synonyms: skill, facility, dexterity

   • 1945 January and February, A Former Pupil, “Some memories of Crewe Works—III”, in Railway Magazine, page 14:

     These men had some uncanny knack of knowing when the steel was right, and like many such things, it just could not be put into a textbook on the subject.

   • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 254a.

     The sophist runs for cover to the darkness of what is not and attaches himself to it by some knack of his;

   • 2011 October 2, Jonathan Jurejko, “Bolton 1–5 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport‎:

     And the Premier League's all-time top-goalscoring midfielder proved he has not lost the knack of being in the right place at the right time with a trio of clinical finishes.

2. A petty contrivance; a toy.

   Synonyms: plaything, knickknack, toy

3. Something performed, or to be done, requiring aptness and dexterity. [from mid 14th c.]

   Synonyms: trick, device

Derived terms

• knackless

Translations

A readiness in performance; aptness at doing something; skill; facility; dexterity

Bulgarian: сръчност (bg) f (srǎčnost), похватност (bg) f (pohvatnost) Chinese: Mandarin: 訣竅／诀窍 (zh) (juéqiào) Finnish: taito (fi) French: chic (fr) m Georgian: უნარი (unari), ხერხი (xerxi), გაწაფულობა (gac̣apuloba), ცოდნა (codna) German: Gabe (de) f, Talent (de) n, Geschick (de) n, Fertigkeit (de) f, Kunstfertigkeit f, Kunst (de) f Irish: féith f Italian: pallino (it) m Japanese: 才覚 (ja) (さいかく, saikaku) Kazakh: тетік (tetık) Plautdietsch: Bejriff m Polish: żyłka (pl) f, dryg (pl) m, smykałka (pl) f, biegłość (pl) f Portuguese: talento (pt) m Russian: сноровка (ru) (snorovka) Spanish: aptitud (es) f Ukrainian: впра́вність (uk) f (vprávnistʹ), упра́вність f (uprávnistʹ) Welsh: dawn (cy) f

A petty contrivance; a toy; a plaything; a knickknack

German: Schnickschnack (de) m, Spielzeug (de) n Spanish: chisme (es) m

Something performed, or to be done, requiring aptness and dexterity; a trick; a device

Bulgarian: цака (bg) f (caka) German: Trick (de) m, Kniff (de) m, Kunststück (de) n Spanish: truco (es) m Ukrainian: трюк m (trjuk), фо́кус m (fókus)

Verb

knack (third-person singular simple present knacks, present participle knacking, simple past and past participle knacked)

1. (obsolete, UK, dialect) To crack; to make a sharp, abrupt noise; to chink.
   • 1674, Joseph Hall, Bishop Hall's sayings concerning travellers to prevent popish and debauch'd principles, William Miller:

     If they hear the Beads knack upon each other, that's enough.

2. To speak affectedly.

Translations

to crack; to make a sharp, abrupt noise to chink

Bulgarian: тряскам (bg) (trjaskam) German: knacken (de), knarzen (de) Spanish: please add this translation if you can

to speak affectedly

German: blasiert sprechen Spanish: please add this translation if you can

See also

• knacked

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “knack”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.