knuckling under

verb

present participle of knuckle under
1
as in succumbing
to cease resistance (as to another's arguments, demands, or control) encouraged her to stand firm and not knuckle under to political pressure

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in surrendering
to yield to the control or power of enemy forces the remote outpost was overrun and forced to knuckle under

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for knuckling under
  1. succumbing
  2. surrendering
  3. submitting
  4. giving up
  5. giving in
  6. conceding
  7. bowing
Verb
  • These rosy reveries gradually darken as Wilde remembers succumbing to hedonism, deceit, debt, and disgrace.
    — Hannah Aizenman, New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2026
  • At the time, despite receiving rave reviews, the Scottish actor was succumbing to complications from AIDS.
    — Payton Turkeltaub, Variety, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of succumbing
Verb
  • That was Fred Claire personified, honest to the end, refusing to sacrifice his integrity, never surrendering his dignity.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The stock initially jumped on the news before surrendering most of those gains, creating what Cramer sees as a buying opportunity.
    — Alexa LoMonaco, CNBC, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of surrendering
Verb
  • The departmen and encouraged the public to continue submitting legitimate information through its unsolved murders website.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 9 Oct. 2026
  • By submitting unsolicited plans, the developers could potentially bypass the auction process, but the developer who gets the deal would still have to negotiate with Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
    — Catherine Odom, Miami Herald, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of submitting
Verb
  • Messick, who grew up going to Rays games at the Trop, took the loss after giving up six hits and three unearned runs in five innings.
    — Rob Maaddi, Chicago Tribune, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Monday was the first time in playoff history that a team's bullpen went over five innings in a postseason game without giving up a baserunner.
    — Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of giving up
Verb
  • Critical response was mixed with even the positive write-ups criticizing Beck for giving in to his most emotionally empty impulses.
    — Josephine Reisman, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Petersen said at the time that the city was giving in to blackmail from the business community.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of giving in
Verb
  • The Roos entered the weekend having scored 24 goals this year, while conceding just 10 in 11 games.
    — Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 11 Oct. 2026
  • The administration’s top economic officials are now conceding that favorable aggregate indicators are no easy answer to public anxiety.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of conceding
Verb
  • Also bowing is 20th Century Studios’ feature take on Daniel Kraus survival thriller novel Whalefall, with $11M-$12m domestic in 3,000 theaters, and about the same overseas for a $24M WW start on the high end.
    — Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2026
  • But these four features from Qatar are instead bowing separately as special screenings.
    — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of bowing
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

knuckling down (to)
knuckling under
knuckling under (to)
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Cite this Entry

“Knuckling under.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knuckling%20under. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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