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Pronunciation varies by accent · adjective
(historical, of garments) Having wide legs and reaching below the knees but higher than the ankles (not tied or closed at the knees)..
1703, Politica (pseudonym), The Levellers: A Dialogue between Two Young Ladies, concerning Matrimony, London: J. How, in The Harleian Miscellany, London: Robert Dutton, 1811, Volume 12, p. 213, The coat-sleeves were gloriously cut and slashed, small buttons on the coat, a little bigger than pease; the pockets about a handful below the knees, the breeches were open-kneed, a great deal wider than a Flanderkin’s trousers, hung all around with abundance of little ribbons.
He had on no Cloaths, but a Seaman’s Wastcoat, a Pair of open-knee’d Linnen Drawers, and a blew Linnen Shirt; but nothing to direct me so much as to guess what Nation he was of […]
Use open-kneed when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Open-kneed means (historical, of garments) Having wide legs and reaching below the knees but higher than the ankles (not tied or closed at the knees)..
The closest synonym depends on the sentence and intended sense.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
1703, Politica (pseudonym), The Levellers: A Dialogue between Two Young Ladies, concerning Matrimony, London: J. How, in The Harleian Miscellany, London: Robert Dutton, 1811, Volume 12, p. 213, The coat-sleeves were gloriously cut and slashed, small buttons on the coat, a little bigger than pease; the pockets about a handful below the knees, the breeches were open-kneed, a great deal wider than a Flanderkin’s trousers, hung all around with abundance of little ribbons.
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