gnarled

Definition

Knotty and misshapen.

Etymology

First attested Shakespeare 1603: : Thy sharpe and sulpherous bolt Splits the vn-wedgable [unwedgable] and gnarled Oke [oak]. : Measure for Measure, Act II, scene ii, line 116 Variant of knurled, from knurl. By surface analysis, gnarl + -ed, though gnarl is a later back-formation. Popular use by 19th century.

Example Sentences

• "Three chairs of the steamer type, all maimed, comprised the furniture of this roof-garden, with […] on one of the copings a row of four red clay flower-pots filled with sun-baked dust from which gnarled and rusty stalks thrust themselves up like withered elfin limbs."