knee-jerk reflex

A sudden involuntary forward movement of the lower leg that can be produced by a firm tap to the tendon located just below the kneecap.

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Notes

The term is loosely applied to any response or belief that is automatic rather than thoughtful. In this sense, it is usually a term of reproach: “Smith is a knee-jerk liberal .”

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

My self-deprecating remarks, a knee-jerk reflex with me, didn’t amuse him.

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Examples include the human knee-jerk reflex and the act of walking.

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“It’s like they go into hibernation from the overwhelming stress. Their brain switches off engagement with their social environment. They don’t respond to pain. Their knee-jerk reflex is absent.”

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Just as with the knee-jerk reflex, “you have to hit the knee hard enough in the right place, or else nothing happens,” he told me.

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knee jerk kneel

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