# knead

> English word · Verb · IPA /niːd/ · frequency rank #48,850

## Definitions
1. To work and press into a mass, usually with the hands; especially, to work, as by repeated pressure with the knuckles, into a well mixed mass, the materials of bread, cake, etc.
2. To treat or form as if by kneading; to beat.
3. Of cats, to make an alternating pressing motion with the two front paws.
4. To mix thoroughly; form into a homogeneous compound.

## Etymology
From Middle English kneden, from Old English cnedan, from Proto-West Germanic *knedan, from Proto-Germanic *knudaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gnet- (“to press together”).

## Easily confused with
- **knew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knead-vs-knew)
- **knee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knead-vs-knee)
- **knees** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knead-vs-knees)
- **kneel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knead-vs-kneel)
- **knelt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knead-vs-knelt)
- **knell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knead-vs-knell)
- **Konrad** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knead-vs-konrad)
- **need** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/knead-vs-need)

## Common misspellings (7)
`kenad`, `kknead`, `knaed`, `kneadd`, `kneda`, `knnead`, `nkead`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/knead