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Entry 8 senses · 3 variants Webster, 1913

Know

/(nō)/ · IPA /noʊ/
01 n. Knee.
  1. 1.
    Knee.[Obs.]
02 v. t. To perceive or apprehend clearly and certainly; to understand; to have full information of; as, to know one's duty.
imp. Knew; p. p. Known; p. pr. & vb. n. Knowing
  1. 1.
    To perceive or apprehend clearly and certainly; to understand; to have full information of; as, to know one's duty.
    “O, that a man might know The end of this day's business ere it come!” — Shak.
    “There is a certainty in the proposition, and we know it.” — Dryden.
    “Know how sublime a thing it is To suffer and be strong.” — Longfellow.
  2. 2.
    To be convinced of the truth of; to be fully assured of; as, to know things from information.
  3. 3.
    To be acquainted with; to be no stranger to; to be more or less familiar with the person, character, etc., of; to possess experience of; as, to know an author; to know the rules of an organization.
    “He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin.” — 2 Cor. v. 21.
    “Not to know me argues yourselves unknown.” — Milton.
  4. 4.
    To recognize; to distinguish; to discern the character of; as, to know a person's face or figure.
    “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” — Matt. vil. 16.
    “And their eyes were opened, and they knew him.” — Luke xxiv. 31.
    “To know Faithful friend from flattering foe.” — Shak.
    “At nearer view he thought he knew the dead.” — Flatman.
  5. 5.
    To have sexual intercourse with.
    “And Adam knew Eve his wife.” — Gen. iv. 1.
    “And I knew that thou hearest me always.” — John xi. 42.
    “The monk he instantly knew to be the prior.” — Sir W. Scott.
    “In other hands I have known money do good.” — Dickens.
Phrases & compounds
To know how — to understand the manner, way, or means; to have requisite information, intelligence, or sagacity. How is sometimes omitted.
03 v. i. To have knowledge; to have a clear and certain perception; to possess wisdom, instruction, or information; -- often with of.
  1. 1.
    To have knowledge; to have a clear and certain perception; to possess wisdom, instruction, or information; -- often with of.
    “Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.” — Is. i. 3.
    “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” — John vii. 17.
    “The peasant folklore of Europe still knows of willows that bleed and weep and speak when hewn.” — Tylor.
  2. 2.
    To be assured; to feel confident.
Phrases & compounds
To know of — to ask, to inquire.