knee-jerk
The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English
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2009
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© The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English 2009, originally published by Oxford University Press 2009. (Hide copyright information)
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knee-jerk • n. a sudden involuntary reflex kick caused by a blow on the tendon just below the knee.
• adj. (of a response) automatic and unthinking: a knee-jerk reaction. ∎ (of a person) responding in this way: knee-jerk radicals.
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E-Knee Jerks
Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 5/30/2000; ; 700+ words
; ...it takes enough time to cool off. E- mail, though, is like a reflex action: My column is the rubber hammer. The knee-jerk message is instantly sent. I understand the compulsion to speak out. I am an opinionated bloke m'self. When I first...
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NO MORE KNEE-JERKS
News Wire article from: The Hindustan Times; 11/28/2008; 660 words
; ...challenge - not to mention the killer gangs' level of training and resolve - the fight against terror cannot be won through knee-jerk responses. It's a long-drawn battle that requires equanimity of mind, sharp reflexes and a political culture that...
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 "The New York Observer (New York, NY)")
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Getting the Knee Jerks Under Control.
Newspaper article from: The New York Observer (New York, NY); 10/17/2008; 489 words
; ...first thing we have to do is get spending under control.' If Barack Obama becomes president, he won't have the same knee-jerk opposition to spending. But he will face a chorus of inside-the-Beltway types telling him that he has to be responsible...
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THE WEEK THAT WAS: Knee jerks and roller-coasters
Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 4/9/2000; 700+ words
; ...out to be an early example of a trend that will become cyclical. Certainly there were big drivers for the fall. The knee- jerk verdict on Microsoft's anti-trust trial knocked it 9 per cent lower over the week. Accordingly, investors made...
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AFI: A little fine-tuning, but no knee-jerks.
Magazine article from: Fund Strategy; 2/4/2008; 700+ words
; ...result of a delayed reaction by investors and does not expect to change portfolios significantly. "I don't see a knee-jerk reaction being necessary, he says. "We are going to go through a difficult two quarters, but after that we see markets...
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 "Albany Times Union (Albany, NY)")
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KNEE JERK, LEFT AND RIGHT.(MAIN)
Newspaper article from: Albany Times Union (Albany, NY); 6/17/2000; 700+ words
; ...explanation for where the term ``knee-jerk liberal'' came from but we all...expression. There are also ``knee-jerk'' conservatives but for some reason...has never become an expression. A knee-jerk liberal is someone whose opinion...
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Knees and knee-jerk reactions
News Wire article from: AP Worldstream; 3/5/2003; ; 700+ words
; ...golf season have been a case study in knee-jerk reactions _ including the left knee...take a little longer to overcome the knee-jerk reaction that women are taking over...now, that might prove to be another knee-jerk reaction.
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 "Deseret News (Salt Lake City)")
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Knee-jerk response of no tobacco tax is gutless
Newspaper article from: Deseret News (Salt Lake City); 2/28/2009; ; 700+ words
; ...political philosophy has become a knee jerk. We all have had our patellar tendon...Thinking stopped. The reaction was a knee jerk. A debatable political position...number of smokers goes down. The knee-jerk reaction of no tax increases as the...
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'Knee-jerk' reactions keep oil prices high
Newspaper article from: THE JOURNAL RECORD; 2/25/2008; ; 700+ words
; Knee-jerk is becoming part of the nomenclature in...alongside the conjoined supply and demand. Knee-jerk is the reaction of the New York Mercantile...price of crude. It's responsible for the knee-jerk reaction in gas prices. There have been...
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Pak asks India to avoid knee-jerk reactions to terror strikes.
News Wire article from: PTI - The Press Trust of India Ltd.; 10/30/2006; 700+ words
; Pak asks India to avoid knee-jerk reactions to terror strikes Islamabad...PTI) Asking India to avoid "knee-jerk" reactions to terror attacks...that Pakistan leadership avoided knee-jerk reactions like blaming India whenever...
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knee-jerk
Book article from: The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English
knee-jerk • n. a sudden involuntary reflex...caused by a blow on the tendon just below the knee. • adj. (of a response) automatic and unthinking: a knee-jerk reaction. ∎ ...
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knee-jerk reflex
Book article from: A Dictionary of Biology
knee-jerk reflex See stretch reflex .
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reflexes
Book article from: The Oxford Companion to the Body
...known reflexes is the tendon jerk reflex . When a tendon is tapped...An example is the ‘knee-jerk reflex’; a tap to...quadriceps muscle. The tendon jerk reflex is the simplest reflex...spinal cord. Also, since tendon jerks are normally partly suppressed...
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quadriceps
Book article from: The Oxford Companion to the Body
...above to the femur itself. Above the knee they curve in from the sides, accounting...the one that is tapped to elicit a knee-jerk reflex ). This in turn is attached...skeletal system .See also hip ; knee ; posture ; reflexes ; walking .
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jerk
Book article from: A Dictionary of Nursing
jerk (jerk) n. the sudden contraction of a muscle in response to a nerve impulse. knee j. see patellar reflex .
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