in a ship, a crooked piece of timber, having two branches or arms, and generally used to connect the beams of a ship with her sides or timbers. The branches of the knees form an angle of greater or smaller extent, according to the mutual situation of the pieces which they are designed to unite.

Knee of the Head, a large, flat piece of timber, fixed edgewise upon the fore part of a ship's stem, and supporting the ornamental figure or image placed under the bowsprit.

The knee of the head is a phrase peculiar to shipwrights, as this piece is always called the cut-water by seamen, if we except a few, who, affecting to be wiser than their brethren, have adopted this expression, probably on the presumption that the other is a cant phrase or vulgarism.

Carling Knees, in a ship, those timbers which extend from the ship to the hatchway, and bear up the deck on both sides.