Adjacent Words

genuflect definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: bend the knees and bow in church or before a religious superior or image
2: bend the knees and bow in a servile manner [syn: scrape, kowtow, genuflect]

Merriam Webster's

intransitive verb Etymology: Late Latin genuflectere, from Latin genu knee + flectere to bend — more at knee Date: 1630 1. a. to bend the knee b. to touch the knee to the floor or ground especially in worship 2. to be servilely obedient or respectful • genuflection noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.intr. bend the knee, esp. in worship or as a sign of respect. Derivatives: genuflection n. (also genuflexion). genuflector n. Etymology: eccl.L genuflectere genuflex- f. L genu the knee + flectere bend

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Genuflect Gen`u*flect", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Genuflected; p. pr. & vb. n. Genuflecting.] [See Genuflection.] To bend the knee, as in worship.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(genuflects, genuflecting, genuflected) 1. If you genuflect, you bend one or both knees and bow, especially in church, as a sign of respect. (FORMAL) He genuflected in front of the altar. VERB: V 2. You can say that someone is genuflecting to something when they are giving it a great deal of attention and respect, especially if you think it does not deserve this. (mainly JOURNALISM) They refrained from genuflecting to the laws of political economy. = bow down VERB: V to n, also V prep [disapproval]

Moby Thesaurus

bend, bend the knee, bend the neck, bend to, bob, bob a curtsy, bob down, bow, bow and scrape, bow down, bow the head, bow to, cringe to, crouch, crouch before, curtsy, do homage, do obeisance, duck, fall down before, grovel, kneel, kneel to, knuckle to, kowtow, make a leg, make a reverence, make obeisance, nod, salaam, scrape, stoop, truckle to