baker's knee
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Knock-knee. Bakers were said to be particularly liable to this deformity owing to the constrained position in which they have to stand when kneading bread.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “baker's knee” mean?
Knock-knee. Bakers were said to be particularly liable to this deformity owing to the constrained position in which they have to stand when kneading bread.
Is “baker's knee” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.