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knee pad

knee pad

5 1.3
A soft pad worn over the knee to protect it during work or sport
  • noun
  • /niː pæd/
translation icon : rodillera
  • I strapped on my knee pads, grabbed a flashlight, and descended into the bowels of our house: the crawlspace.
  • wear knee pads
  • bring your knee pads
  • knee pads and elbow pads

But on these routes, a lot of people use knee pads.

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Examples

  • Maybe make it mandatory to wear knee pads as well?

    Blog text (24)
  • This is why you should always wear a helmet and knee pads, because you never know when you're gonna fall down and go boom.

  • Your knee pads under your uniform.

    Blog text (10)
  • I'm getting the knee pads, sir.

  • All right, I'm getting the knee pads.

  • Next time I'll bring gloves and knee pads, she thought.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • And I kind of regret not using a knee pad, especially on those like sloppy knee bars.

  • There was a set of roller blades, elbow and knee pads, and an orange street-hockey ball.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • This is a football town, let me remind you... and, yes, the team will get new jerseys and new knee pads... and new jock straps and anything else they want in the name of education... because that is what the school board wants.

  • When playing basketball, it is important to wear knee pads to protect your joints from injury.

Synonyms

pad
vsknee pad
118 1.4

A soft piece of material used to protect things or hold liquid

is a specific wearable placed on a joint to prevent injury during sports

How Protective

hardshell
3.7
knee brace
3 3.2
knee pad
5 1.3

Surface Forms

knee pad singular
knee pads plural

Morphology

knee + pad

The meaning 'a protective pad worn over the knee' is directly and compositionally derived from combining 'knee' (the body joint) with 'pad' (a protective soft layer). This noun–noun compounding pattern is common and transparent across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Knee pad comes from the simple image of a soft pad placed over the knee to absorb hits and pressure. Workers and athletes began using these pads when kneeling or falling, so the term means a protective cover worn on the knee to prevent 'injury'.