Definition of "brass knuckles" []

• A metal chain or a set of rings attached to a bar that can be fitted over the fingers to increase the impact of a blow with the fist. (noun-plural)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "One was a swell minis-try ruffian, a genteel lantern-jaw with a flowered weskit and brass knuckles in his fob, no doubt; the other was your complete politico, with the pudding face of a bad-tempered baby and no nonsense."
• "He had looked like an Ivy League gentleman, but he had always carried a switchblade in one pocket and brass knuckles in the other."
• "Dudley stepped in front of the three, his suitcoat open, .45 automatic, sap and brass knuckles in plain view."