weak-kneed
English
Alternative forms
- weak in the knees
Adjective
weak-kneed (comparative more weak-kneed, superlative most weak-kneed)
- (figuratively) Lacking will power or strength of character; timid.
- 1903, Jack London, The People of the Abyss, ch. 5:
- It is incontrovertible that the children grow up into rotten adults, without virility or stamina, a weak-kneed, narrow-chested, listless breed, that crumples up and goes down in the brute struggle for life.
- 1903, Jack London, The People of the Abyss, ch. 5:
- (literally) Used other than with a figurative or idiomatic meaning: see weak, kneed.
Translations
figuratively: having weak knees
literally: having weak knees
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