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knuckle duster

knuckle duster
 n.— «They call them statement rings, in the typically kooky parlance of the fashion business, as if the wearer’s hand had been asked to give a deposition. The term I personally prefer is knuckle-duster, slang that a friend came up with to describe what was once also known as a cocktail ring and worn primarily, it seemed, by women who had perhaps failed to score that more aggressive statement of arrival, a band on the left hand.» —“With One Hand Over the Top” by Guy Trebay New York Times Nov. 23, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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