HOW TO PRONOUNCE
know
/noʊ/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:39
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Start with n, leaving the k silent.
It sounds like no. The k is silent, and the w does not add another syllable.
TRY SAYING
“I know the answer.”
APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗What does know mean?
verb
- To perceive the truth or factuality of; to be certain of; to be certain that.
- To be or become aware or cognizant.
- To be aware of; to be cognizant of.
More meanings (15)
verb
- To be acquainted or familiar with; to have encountered.
- To experience.
- To understand or have a grasp of through experience or study.
- To be able to distinguish, to discern, particularly by contrast or comparison; to recognize the nature of.
- To recognize as the same (as someone or something previously encountered) after an absence or change.
- To have knowledge; to have information, be informed.
- To be able to play or perform (a song or other piece of music).
- To have indexed and have information about within one's database.
- To maintain (a belief, a position) subject to a given philosophical definition of knowledge; to hold a justified true belief.
- (obsolete) To be acquainted (with another person).
- (archaic) To have sexual relations with. This meaning normally specified in modern English as e.g. to ‘know someone in the biblical sense’ or to ‘know biblically’.
noun
- Knowledge; the state of knowing. (Now confined to the fixed phrase in the know.)
- Alternative form of knowe (“hill, knoll”).
- (rare) Knowledge; the state of knowing.
particle
- Used at the end of a sentence to draw attention to information one thinks the listener should keep in mind.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/noʊ/
Pronunciation used in the listening tip.
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
She felt very curious to know what it was all about, and crept a little way out of the wood to listen.
He spoke long and earnestly, but what it was all about Smee, who was rather stupid, did not know in the least.
More book examples (3)
And now, O king, we do not believe that a man has such great power, for we know he cannot be slain.
I do not know that her master ever whipped her, but I have been an eye-witness to the cruelty of Mrs. Hamilton.
“Do anybody know of a crooked man, or a lame, or any second-hand fellow at all that would do for poor me?”