Definition of "knead"

knead

/niːd/

verb
third-person singular simple present kneads, present participle kneading, simple past kneaded or (obsolete) knead, past participle kneaded or (archaic) kneaden or (obsolete) knodden
1. (transitive) 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.
  Quotations
  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
2. (transitive, figuratively) To treat or form as if by kneading; to beat.
  Quotations
  I will knead him: I'll make him supple.
  c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene iii]
3. (intransitive, felinology) Of cats, to make an alternating pressing motion with the two front paws.
  Quotations
  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, page 44
  Why do cats knead? When kittens are nursing, they knead against their mothers' bellies to draw out milk. A relaxed adult cat kneads your leg or a couch cushion to show that he's happy and content, as he was when he was a nursing baby.
  2012, Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Cat Lover's Companion‎, Simon and Schuster
4. (transitive) To mix thoroughly; form into a homogeneous compound.
noun
plural kneads
1. The act of kneading something.
  Quotations
  Do not expect the dough to be very manageable even after a good knead.
  2011, Andrew Whitley, Bread Matters

Definition of "knead"

knead

verb

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

noun

Quotations