† pulley-piecen.1
Obsolete.
A piece of armour protecting the knee; = poleyn n.1 (see also quot. 1707).
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > armour > armour for limbs > [noun] > leg armour > armour for knees
genouillerec1380
poleyn1388
pulley-piece1611
kneecap1660
kneeleta1843
knee-guard1869
knee-piece1869
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Pompes, armour, called Pullie-peeces, for the knees.
1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais 2nd Bk. Wks. xxvii. 172 Every man amongst them..set up a huge big post, whereunto they hanged a great cuirasier saddle, the fronstal of a barbed horse, bridlebosses, pullie-pieces for the knees [Fr. des pompes], stirrupleathers, [etc.].
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory (1905) iii. xix. 166/1 Pullie peeces or Pulley-pies, Armour for the Knees.
1707 Glossographia Anglicana Nova Pulley-piece, an Armour for the Knee; also that Part of a Boot which covers the Knee. [Also in later dictionaries.]
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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