Etymology From Middle English kneden, from Old English cnedan, from Proto-West Germanic *knedan, from Proto-Germanic *knudaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gnet- (“to press together”).
1
To work and press into a mass, usually with the hands; especially, to work, as by repeated pressure with the knuckles, into a well mixed mass, the materials of bread, cake, etc.
Knead the dough by pressing down on it with the heels of both your palms and pushing it forward to stretch it, then pulling it back toward you...2001, Özcan Ozan, Carl Tremblay, The Sultan's Kitchen: A Turkish Cookbook:
2
Figuratively To treat or form as if by kneading; to beat.
I will knead him: I'll make him supple.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
3
Of cats, to make an alternating pressing motion with the two front paws.
Cats knead with their paws when happy, just as they kneaded when feeding from their mothers as kittens.1991, Grace McHattie, That's cats!: a compendium of feline facts:
One of the most characteristic things that cats do is ”knead,” pushing their paws alternately against any invitingly soft area of their human friends' bodies like a baker kneading dough.2001, John C. Wright, Judi Wright Lashnits, Ain't Misbehavin', Rodale, →ISBN, page 44:
1 more example
Why do cats knead? When kittens are nursing, they knead against their mothers' bellies to draw out milk. A relaxed adult cat kneads your leg or a couch cushion to show that he's happy and content, as he was when he was a nursing baby.2012, Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Cat Lover's Companion, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:
4
To mix thoroughly; form into a homogeneous compound.
Etymology From Middle English kneden, from Old English cnedan, from Proto-West Germanic *knedan, from Proto-Germanic *knudaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gnet- (“to press together”).
1
The act of kneading something.
Do not expect the dough to be very manageable even after a good knead.2011, Andrew Whitley, Bread Matters: