bow the knee

bow the knee

To show one's deference. This phrase can literally refer to the physical act of kneeling or it can be figurative. They can threaten me all they want—I still refuse to bow the knee to them. Once we're standing before the king tonight, we must bow the knee.
See also: bow, knee
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

bow (or bend) the knee (to)

kneel in submission; submit.
See also: bow, knee
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • give (one's) right arm
  • give right arm
  • give your right arm
  • would give your right arm for
  • would give your right arm for something/to do something
  • the answer to somebody's prayers
  • the/an answer to (one's) prayer(s)
  • grovel to
  • grovel to (someone)
  • at a dead end
References in periodicals archive
For while the rank underdogs had, eventually, to bow the knee to the unbeaten Australian tourists, they thoroughly earned their pounds 3,000 a man match appearance fee in this new era of professionalism.
First he had to bow the knee at Amritsar in India, scene of the notorious 1919 massacre.
"A rose is a rose is a rose" is now world famous and we tend to bow the knee at her writings rather than hoot with laughter.
His 265 in 2001 might have won in another year but Kenny PerryOs superb 263, the second-lowest score ever recorded in the 39-year history of Warwick Hills, forced him to bow the knee.
Last night a source close to Gregory said: "John is in no mood to bow the knee to Ellis because he believes every word he uttered.
When will Newcastle realise that should you bow the knee to the moderate, then eventual defeat against the best has the cumulative effect of dropping you way down among the dead-beats.
I WANTED to bow the knee to Chelsea the other night but was frightened that Didier Drogba would go down in agony.
They refused to bow the knee to the despotic regime and emigrated.
Hale Irwin continues to beat Father Time but there must come a cut-off point where he has to bow the knee to the young upstarts on the Champions Tour.
Carroll's coronation is inevitable, but yesterday the crown prince had to bow the knee to the monarch.
Conservatives and Lib Dems all bow the knee to the EU.
Singh also had to bow the knee to Tiger but only after two titanic battles, going down on the final green when it was played in a matchplay format in 1998 and then looking the certain winner until Woods eagled the last two years later to tie the Fijian, then eagled it again in the play-off to blow him away.
Not that Blackpool will come tomorrow looking to bow the knee before superior human beings.
And when O'Gorman again opened up a six point gap with his second goal for Wicklow, Derry still refused to bow the knee, chipping away at the lead until McBride's second goal on 68 minutes cut the deficit to a single point (3-10 to 2-12).
Jones may have to bow the knee to Lee Westwood, whose recent form has been outstanding, but others above him on the index have question marks.