know Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the fact of being aware of information that is known to few people
    • he is always in the know
  2. verb be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
    cognize; cognise.
    • I know that the President lied to the people
    • I want to know who is winning the game!
    • I know it's time
  3. verb know how to do or perform something
    • She knows how to knit
    • Does your husband know how to cook?
  4. verb be aware of the truth of something; have a belief or faith in something; regard as true beyond any doubt
    • I know that I left the key on the table
    • Galileo knew that the earth moves around the sun
  5. verb be familiar or acquainted with a person or an object
    • She doesn't know this composer
    • Do you know my sister?
    • We know this movie
    • I know him under a different name
    • This flower is known as a Peruvian Lily
  6. verb have firsthand knowledge of states, situations, emotions, or sensations
    live; experience.
    • I know the feeling!
    • have you ever known hunger?
    • I have lived a kind of hell when I was a drug addict
    • The holocaust survivors have lived a nightmare
    • I lived through two divorces
  7. verb accept (someone) to be what is claimed or accept his power and authority
    recognize; recognise; acknowledge.
    • The Crown Prince was acknowledged as the true heir to the throne
    • We do not recognize your gods
  8. verb have fixed in the mind
    • I know Latin
    • This student knows her irregular verbs
    • Do you know the poem well enough to recite it?
  9. verb have sexual intercourse with
    love; fuck; sleep with; have it away; screw; have intercourse; get it on; lie with; hump; make love; make out; get laid; have a go at it; bonk; eff; have sex; jazz; be intimate; have it off; bang; bed; do it; roll in the hay; sleep together.
    • This student sleeps with everyone in her dorm
    • Adam knew Eve
    • Were you ever intimate with this man?
  10. verb know the nature or character of
    • we all knew her as a big show-off
  11. verb be able to distinguish, recognize as being different
    • The child knows right from wrong
  12. verb perceive as familiar
    • I know this voice!

WordNet

Know noun
Definitions
  1. Knee. Obs. Chaucer.
Know transitive verb
Etymology
OE. knowen, knawen, AS. cnäwan; akin to OHG. chnäan (in comp.), Icel. knä to be able, Russ, znate to know, L. gnoscere, noscere, Gr. , Skr. jn; fr. the root of E. can, v. i., ken. (). See Ken, Can to be able, and cf. Acquaint, Cognition, Gnome, Ignore, Noble, Note.
Wordforms
imperfect Knew ; past participle Known ; present participle & verbal noun Knowing
Definitions
  1. To perceive or apprehend clearly and certainly; to understand; to have full information of; as, to know one's duty.
    O, that a man might know The end of this day's business ere it come! Shak.
    There is a certainty in the proposition, and we know it. Dryden.
    Know how sublime a thing it is To suffer and be strong. Longfellow.
  2. To be convinced of the truth of; to be fully assured of; as, to know things from information.
  3. To be acquainted with; to be no stranger to; to be more or less familiar with the person, character, etc., of; to possess experience of; as, to know an author; to know the rules of an organization.
    He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin. 2 Cor. v. 21.
    Not to know me argues yourselves unknown. Milton.
  4. To recognize; to distinguish; to discern the character of; as, to know a person's face or figure.
    Ye shall know them by their fruits. Matt. vil. 16.
    And their eyes were opened, and they knew him. Luke xxiv. 31.
    To know Faithful friend from flattering foe. Shak.
    At nearer view he thought he knew the dead. Flatman.
  5. To have sexual commerce with.
    And Adam knew Eve his wife. Gen. iv. 1.
    ✍ Know is often followed by an objective and an infinitive (with or without to) or a participle, a dependent sentence, etc.
    And I knew that thou hearest me always. John xi. 42.
    The monk he instantly knew to be the prior. Sir W. Scott.
    In other hands I have known money do good. Dickens.
    Jer. Taylor.
Know intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To have knowledge; to have a clear and certain perception; to possess wisdom, instruction, or information; -- often with of.
    Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Is. i. 3.
    If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. John vii. 17.
    The peasant folklore of Europe still knows of willows that bleed and weep and speak when hewn. Tylor.
  2. To be assured; to feel confident. Shak.

Webster 1913