Knōb'by, a.
(nŏb'b'y), a. 1. Full of knobs or hard protuberances.
Sense 2. Hard; stubborn. [Obs.]
The informers continued in a knobby kind of obstinacy, resolving still to conceal the names of the authors. Howell.
Sense 3. Abounding in rounded hills or mountains; hilly. [U. S.]