From an unused root meaning to burst; only used as an architectural term of an ornament similar to paqqu'ah, a semi-globe -- knop.
see HEBREW paqqu'ah
H6497. peqaim
מְּקָעִים noun masculine1 Kings 7:24
plural carved wood or metal ornaments, either ball-, knob-shaped (Löwp. 332 f.) of gourd-shaped (so most; compare following; Syriac flowers [Lexicons]); — 1 Kings 6:18; 7:24 (twice in verse).