one knee
13
2.4
- noun
:
de rodilla
- Then he walked over to where Nora sat and, going down on one knee, he smiled at her.
- drops to one knee
- went down on one knee
- kneeling on one knee
a video of him getting down on one knee.
- a video of him getting down on one knee.
- You can't see me, but I'm on one knee and I am begging you put it in Steven's briefcase and he did.
- The camera boy picks up the phone up and turns to see his boy is down on one knee with a sign that says PROMOSI.
- And then she turned around and I was just on one knee with the thing with, with the tears.
- And then there was another guy at the door bent down on one knee and he was facing and kind of watching for, and then it blasted him on this side.
Examples
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You get down on one knee.
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"Recovering himself, he dropped to one knee, raised the mask from his face, and kissed her hand.
Fiction book (1992) -
I mean, did he get down on one knee?
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Can I get down on one knee?
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But he did get down on one knee and ask me to be his bride.
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And he got down on one knee, and he just asked me to prom right then and there.
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One of the guards dropped to one knee in front of her.
Fiction book (1992) -
He got down on one knee.
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My grip on her upper arm loosens, and I bend to one knee and put my arms around her.
Fiction book (1997) -
When he proposed, he got down on one knee and presented the ring.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly composed from 'one' (single) + 'knee' (the joint) and describes the physical posture of having a single knee on the ground. This is a concrete, cross-linguistically common motion/posture description that a B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer without prior exposure.
Etymology
One knee comes from the clear image of someone kneeling with one knee on the ground. This pose has long been used to show respect or to 'propose marriage', so one knee now means 'the position of kneeling with one knee', often when asking someone to marry you.