knee-jerk

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj

Unthinking, not carefully considered, (nearly) automatic, spontaneous, easily predictable.

noun

A sudden reflexive movement of the leg below the knee, as a reaction to a tap to the tendon just below the patella (kneecap).

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-knee-jerk.wav

knee-jerk more knee-jerk most knee-jerk kneejerk knee jerk knee-jerks

From knee + jerk, First attested c. 1876, and derived from a figurative sense of the patellar reflex.

kneejerk reflex patellar reflex

knee-jerkish knee-jerkishly knee-jerkism knee-jerk reaction knee-jerky

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