Word.ws English Dictionary

knew

/ˈnjuː//ˈn(j)u/

knew is the simple past of know.

knew is the past participle of know.

Meaning of know

Verb

know (third-person singular simple present knows, present participle knowing, simple past knew or (nonstandard) knowed, past participle known or (colloquial and nonstandard) knew)

  1. (transitive) To perceive the truth or factuality of; to be certain of; to be certain that.
    • Question things. I have the most fun when I'm writing questioning things that people do not question- the assumptions that everybody knows are true.1985 April 17, Frank Herbert, 15:46 from the start, in Frank Herbert speaking at UCLA 4/17/1985, UCLACommStudies, archived from the original on 10 Feb 2017
  2. (intransitive) To be or become aware or cognizant.
    • Did you know Michelle and Jack were getting divorced? ― Yes, I knew.
  3. (transitive) To be aware of; to be cognizant of.
    • Did you know Michelle and Jack were getting divorced? ― Yes, I knew.
  4. (intransitive, obsolete) To be acquainted (with another person).
    • You, and I haue knowne ſir.c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
  5. (transitive) To be acquainted or familiar with; to have encountered.
    • I know your mother, but I've never met your father.
    1. (archaic, euphemistic, transitive) To have sexual relations with. This meaning normally specified in modern English as e.g. to ‘know someone in the biblical sense’ or to ‘know biblically’.
      • AFterwarde the man knewe Heuáh his wife, which cõceiued & bare Káin, & ſaid, I haue obteined a man by yͤ Lord.1560, [William Whittingham et al., transl.], The Bible and Holy Scriptures Conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament. […] (the Geneva Bible), Geneva: […] Rouland Hall, →OCLC, Genesis IIII:1, folio 2...

See all 17 meanings of know

Phrases with knew

60 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with knew

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about knew

What is knew the simple past of?
Knew is the simple past of know.
How do you pronounce knew?
Knew is pronounced /ˈnjuː/ (UK).

Words near knew in the dictionary

  1. Kneser graphs
  2. Kness
  3. Knesses
  4. Knesset
  5. Knettishall
  6. knew
  7. knew a B from a battledore
  8. knew A from B
  9. knew about
  10. knew any better
  11. knew B from a battledore

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: knew (page history and authors); know (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-knew.ogg, en-us-knew.ogg.

Cite this entry: “knew.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/knew. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.