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^(key): /niːd/
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 606515358, [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.
(transitive) To mix thoroughly; form into a homogeneous compound.

Synonyms

(mix): amalgamate

Translations

to work and press into a mass

Albanian: mbruaj, ngjesh (sq)
Arabic: عَجَنَ‎ (ar) (ʿajana), دَلَكَ‎ (dalaka)
Moroccan Arabic: عْجن‎ (ʿjən)
Armenian: հունցել (hy) (huncʿel) (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)
Esperanto: knedi (eo)
Even: монҥа- (monŋa-)
Evenki: мэнӈимӣ (mənŋimī)
Faliscan: fico (fico)
Finnish: vaivata (fi), sotkea (fi)
French: pétrir (fr)
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)
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 (こねる, koneru), 練る (ja) (ねる, neru)
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-
Norman: pêtri
Norwegian: kna (no)
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
Spanish: amasar (es)
Swedish: knåda (sv)
Tagalog: lapisain
Thai: นวด (th) (nûuat)
Turkish: yoğurmak (tr)
Ukrainian: міси́ти impf (misýty)
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.

Anagrams

Danek, Kaden, naked