knead
UK/niːd/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Early/knɛːd/
knead verb: 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. Also the simple past and past participle of knead.
Verb
knead (third-person singular simple present kneads, present participle kneading, simple past kneaded or (obsolete) knead, past participle kneaded or (obsolete) knead or (archaic) kneaden or (obsolete) knodden)
- 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.
- 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...2001, Özcan Ozan, Carl Tremblay, The Sultan's Kitchen: A Turkish Cookbook
- To treat or form as if by kneading; to beat.
- I will knead him: I'll make him supple.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- Of cats, to make an alternating pressing motion with the two front paws.
- Cats knead with their paws when happy, just as they kneaded when feeding from their mothers as kittens.1991, Grace McHattie, That's cats!: a compendium of feline facts
- One of the most characteristic things that cats do is ”knead,” pushing their paws alternately against any invitingly soft area of their human friends' bodies like a baker kneading dough.2001, John C. Wright, Judi Wright Lashnits, Ain't Misbehavin', Rodale, →ISBN, page 44
- Synonyms:
- make biscuits, make muffins
- To mix thoroughly; form into a homogeneous compound.
- Synonyms:
- amalgamate
Noun
knead (plural kneads)
- The act of kneading something.
- Do not expect the dough to be very manageable even after a good knead.2011, Andrew Whitley, Bread Matters
Also used as
knead is also the simple past and past participle of knead.
knead meaning in Urdu, Malayalam, Punjabi and Pashto
knead in Urdu
- to work and press into a mass
- گُون٘دْھنا gū̃dhnā
knead in Malayalam
- to work and press into a mass
- കുഴയ്ക്കുക kuḻaykkuka
knead in Punjabi
- to work and press into a mass
- ਗੁੰਨ੍ਹਣਾ gunnhṇā, گُنّھݨا gunnhṇā
knead in Pashto
- to work and press into a mass
- اخښل akhssəl
More languagesFewer languages
- knead in Tagalog
- lapisain
- knead in Arabic
- عَجَنَ ʕajana, دَلَكَ dalaka
- knead in Persian
- ورز دادن varz dâdan, سرشتن sereštan
- knead in Thai
- นวด nûuat
- knead in Vietnamese
- nhào
- knead in Myanmar
- နယ် nai
Examples of knead in a sentence
- Knead bread with a rocking action.
- Anma is a traditional Japanese massage involving vigorous kneading, rubbing, tapping and shaking.
- I follow her into the kitchen to watch her knead and braid the dough.
Synonyms of knead
Forms of knead
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | kneads |
| present participle | kneading |
| past | kneaded |
| past participle | kneaded |
| past (obsolete) | knead |
| past participle (obsolete) | knead |
| past participle (archaic) | kneaden |
| past participle (obsolete) | knodden |
| Noun | |
| plural | kneads |
Origin of knead
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”).
Words formed from knead
Words that rhyme with knead
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- weed
- proceed
- stampede
- concede
- accede
- deed
- exceed
- need
- bede
- mislead
- plead
- rede
- swede
- cede
- creed
- godspeed
- heed
- intercede
- keyed
- leed
- meed
- precede
- recede
- tumbleweed
- a friend in need is a friend indeed
- beread
- greed
- he'd
- indeed
- interbreed
- kneed
- mead
- secede
- she'd
- sneed
- steed
- supersede
- underfeed
- we'd
- ye'd
- agreed
- anasheed
- aniseed
- atheed
- caid
- co-feed
- cofeed
- counterplead
Questions about knead
- What does knead mean?
- Knead means 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.
- What is knead in Urdu?
- Knead in Urdu is گُون٘دْھنا (gū̃dhnā). See Knead meaning in Urdu.
- What part of speech is knead?
- Knead can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce knead?
- Knead is pronounced /niːd/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of knead?
- The past tense of knead is kneaded.
Words near knead in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: knead (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-knead.ogg.
Cite this entry: “knead.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/knead. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.