knuckleyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
knuckle: [14] Knuckle originally denoted the rounded end of a bone at a joint, which sticks out when you bend the joint. This could be at any joint, including the elbow, the knee and even the joints of the vertebrae; only gradually did it become specialized to the finger joints. The word probably came from Middle Low German knökel (or a relative of it), which appears to have meant etymologically ‘little bone’. Knuckle down, in the sense ‘begin to work hard and conscientiously’, comes from the game of marbles, where players have to put their knuckles on the ground when shooting a marble with the thumb.
pygmyyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
pygmy: [14] Greek pugmé meant ‘fist’ (it may have been related to Latin pugnus ‘fist’, source of English pugnacious). By extension, it was used for a ‘measure of length equal to the distance from the elbows to the knuckles’. From it was derived pugmaíos ‘dwarfish’, which passed into English via Latin pygmaeus. In ancient and medieval times it was used as a noun to designate various apocryphal or mythical races of short stature, but it was not until the late 19th century that it was applied to the people of equatorial Africa who now bear the name.
=> pugnacious
rap (v.1)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
mid-14c., "strike, smite, knock," from rap (n.). Related: Rapped; rapping. To rap (someone's) knuckles "give light punishment" is from 1749. Related: Rapped; rapping.
underhanded (adj.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
in reference to a throw, etc., "performed or done with the knuckles turned under," 1807, from under + hand (n.). Compare underhand. As "in secret," from 1825; as "with too few people," from 1834. Related: Underhandedly; underhandedness.
nobbleyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
"Try to influence or thwart by underhand or unfair methods", Mid 19th century: probably a variant of dialect knobble, knubble 'knock, strike with the knuckles'.