Word.ws English Dictionary

knowing one's onions

knowing one's onions is the present participle and gerund of know one's onions.

Meaning of know one's onions

Verb

know one's onions (third-person singular simple present knows one's onions, present participle knowing one's onions, simple past knew one's onions, past participle known one's onions)

  1. (informal) Synonym of know one's stuff: to be knowledgeable about a given subject or task.
    • Joe really knows his onions when it comes to cooking.

Questions about knowing one's onions

What is knowing one's onions the present participle and gerund of?
Knowing one's onions is the present participle and gerund of know one's onions.

Words near knowing one's onions in the dictionary

  1. knowing one's arse from one's elbow
  2. knowing one's ass from a hole in the ground
  3. knowing one's ass from one's elbow
  4. knowing one's head from a hole in the ground
  5. knowing one's head from one's ass
  6. knowing one's onions
  7. knowing one's own head
  8. knowing one's own mind
  9. knowing one's place
  10. knowing one's shit
  11. knowing one's stuff

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: knowing one's onions (page history and authors); know one's onions (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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