Knack (?), v. i. [Prob. of imitative origin; cf. G. knacken to break, Dan. knage to crack, and E. knock.]
1.
To crack; to make a sharp, abrupt noise to chink.
[Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
Bp. Hall.
2.
To speak affectedly.
[Prov. Eng.]
Halliwell.
© Webster 1913.
Knack, n.
1.
A petty contrivance; a toy; a plaything; a knickknack.
A knack, a toy, a trick, a baby's cap.
Shak.
2.
A readiness in performance; aptness at doing something; skill; facility; dexterity.
The fellow . . . has not the knack with his shears.
B. Jonson.
The dean was famous in his time,
And had a kind of knack at rhyme.
Swift.
3.
Something performed, or to be done, requiring aptness and dexterity; a trick; a device.
"The
knacks of japers."
Chaucer.
For how should equal colors do the knack !
Pope.
© Webster 1913.