Definition of "knurl" []

• A knob, knot, or other small protuberance. (noun)
• One of a series of small ridges or grooves on the surface or edge of a metal object, such as a thumbscrew, to aid in gripping. (noun)
• To provide with knurls; mill. (verb-transitive)

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.

• "It's that scanner that peeks under your clothing, creating a ghostly but realistic image of your naked body, accurate down to every curve, knurl, protuberance, carbuncle, wen, bleb, wart and wattle and garfunkel."
• "Think a rough-hewn, Teutonic White Goddess, about a Romantic masterpiece rather than a Welsh riddle-poem, and you'll have the flavor of this weird knurl of taffy."
• "He wore a black coat and waistcoat, old-fashioned in style, with the folds of a tartan plaid draped over his shoulder, caught up with a brooch whose golden gleam was echoed by the ornamental knurl atop the dirk the old man held, his fingers bent and gnarled with arthritis."