核心畫面

One way to picture it: a small rounded lump sticking out from a flat surface — something your hand can close around and turn, or something you could pinch off in one piece.

一個從平面上鼓出來的小圓塊。它不是平的、不是長條的,就是圓圓一坨凸出來——小到一隻手可以整個握住、捏住。門上那顆握著更多收起一個從平面上鼓出來的小圓塊。它不是平的、不是長條的,就是圓圓一坨凸出來——小到一隻手可以整個握住、捏住。門上那顆握著轉的圓球是它,木頭上長的節瘤也是它。這個「圓鼓鼓的一小坨」是後面幾個意思共同的起點。

From the word’s history

From Middle English knobbe, from Middle Low German knobbe meaning "knob, knot in wood, bud" — one of the English kn- words for lumps and bumps (knot, knuckle, knoll).

這個字來自中古英語 knobbe,再往上是中古低地德語 knobbe,本來指「木頭上的節瘤、芽苞」——就是樹幹上凸起的那一小團。英語裡一整組 kn- 開頭的字(knot 結、knuckle 指節、knoll 小丘)都帶著「鼓起的一小塊」這個味道,knob 是其中一員。所以現代的「門把」其實是從「木頭上的疙瘩」這個很具體的畫面長出來的。

Wiktionary — knob (Middle English knobbe < Middle Low German knobbe "knob, knot in wood, bud"; cf. Proto-Germanic *knappô)

Three branches

可以握住轉的圓凸物

這一族最貼近原本的畫面:凸出來的圓塊,剛好給手用。

knob (handle/dial) · noun · C1

A round handle that you turn to open a door, or a round control that you turn on a machine, such as a television.

旋鈕/圓把

一小塊東西

把「圓鼓鼓的一小坨」從門上移到桌上:形狀還在,只是這次是可以吃的。

knob (small lump) · noun · C1

A small, round piece of something, especially butter.

一小塊

粗話與孩子的口頭禪

形狀的聯想還在(凸出的一塊),但用法已經整個跳到粗俗語域,跟門把、奶油不是同一個場合的字。

knob (vulgar: penis) · noun · C1

A rude informal word for a penis.

陰莖

原始詞典資料17 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法,原文照列,我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的;有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

knobnoun/nɒb/

  • 1

    A rounded protuberance, especially one arising from a flat surface; a fleshy lump or caruncle.

  • 2

    A rounded control switch that can be turned on its axis, designed to be operated by the fingers.

  • 3

    A ball-shaped part of a handle, lever, etc., designed to be grabbed by the hand.

  • 4

    A rounded ornament on the hilt of an edged weapon; a pommel.

  • 5

    A prominent, rounded bump along a mountain ridge.

  • 6

    geographynatural-sciencesA prominent rounded hill.

    • We climbed to the top of Slate Hill, the highest knob in our town, and Ricky gave me a whole talk on how slate formed, how it was and was not shale.
  • 7

    slangA woman's breast.

  • 8

    slangThe penis; dick.

另外 6 個記錄的用法
  • 9

    derogatoryslangThe penis; dick.

    • Arthur slammed his fist down on the table so hard, the cup jumped, spilling coffee. The rotten bastard means to have the guvnor’s guts. That fucking knob has never been on a live deployment in his entire life.[…]
    • […] He must really hate those people!” my father said in an all-too audible aside to Mom. “I don’t hate them, you stupid knob!” Critch said. It’s you and your whole kind I hate!”
  • 10

    vulgarslangThe clitoris.

    • A hot and strong sexual odour emanated from her fanny. I extended my head and pressed my nose between her lips. I pushed my tongue into her crack and lapped up the juices. [...] Then I moved up and grasped her long clitoris in my lips and began to suck and play with it with my tongue. She thrashed around, sometimes grasping my head with her thighs, sometimes opening her legs as wide as she could, pushing my away while gripping my head in her hands and urging me on. Through it all I kept my grip on her knob until her orgasm began to subside.
    • He was seriously talented, and his fingers were now sliding back and forth over her wet knob, and she was losing her mind. Almost gasping for air from the pleasure, she felt the undeniable need for her release. […] Then his fingers quickened their strokes against her swollen rose bud, […]
  • 11

    cookingfoodlifestyleA dollop, an amount just larger than a spoonful (usually referring to butter).

  • 12

    A chunky branch-like piece, especially of a ginger rhizome.

    • Place whole, unpeeled knobs of ginger in a zipper-lock freezer bag for up to 3 months. Slice or break off what you need and return the rest to the freezer.
  • 13

    A bulb of the garlic plant consisting of multiple cloves.

  • 14

    slangA freshman at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina.

    • Males voices, raised in anger, screamed at an unseen freshman. One voice demanded to know the rank on each jacket. “Hey, smack, what rank is this cadet uniform? Answer me, knob! Don’t you know, knob? What’s wrong, are you stupid, knob? For the first time since arriving at The Citadel, I fought to keep back tears. Exhausted from an hour of nonstop harassment, I was caught off guard by the sound of a boy sobbing behind me.
    • “You went to The Citadel?” her mother chimed in. “I’ve heard so many great things about that institution. Did you go through a plebe year?” I told her I did and that we called it the knob year because freshman cadets had to shave their heads bald to resemble the butt end of a door knob and keep it that way for an entire ten months while going through the process of being broken down, only to be built back up.

knobverb/nɒb/

  • 1

    protrude

  • 2

    furnish or produce with a knob, knobble

  • 3

    vulgarslangTo have sex with.

    • One morning, maybe three weeks after my last grapple with Penny, Thomson came roaring into our form room. ‘Oi, Fleming, you spastic. Guess who I knobbed last night?’
    • Had Jack knobbed her as well? Molly wondered.

資料來源:英文維基詞典 English WiktionaryCC BY-SA 4.0)。 原文照列,未經改寫。