I. knock 1 S1 W3 /nɒk $ nɑːk/ BrE AmE verb
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: cnocian ]
1 . DOOR [intransitive] to hit a door or window with your closed hand to attract the attention of the people inside:
I knocked and knocked but nobody answered.
knock at/on
We knocked at the door but there was no one there.
Wilson went up and knocked on the door.
2 . HIT AND MOVE SOMETHING [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to hit something with a short quick action so that it moves or falls
knock something out of/from something
As I got up, I knocked a pencil out of its holder.
He knocked the knife from my hand.
knock something over
At that moment, Sally knocked over her glass of wine.
knock something aside
She tried to knock the gun aside but she was not fast enough.
3 . HIT SOMEBODY HARD [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to hit someone very hard:
He knocked her to the ground and kicked her.
knock somebody unconscious/cold/senseless (=hit someone so hard that they fall unconscious)
Simon could knock a man unconscious with one punch to the jaw.
Garry answered the door only to be knocked flying as two policemen came rushing in.
4 . HIT PART OF YOUR BODY [transitive] to hit something with part of your body
knock something against something
Morse knocked his shin against a suitcase that had been left just inside the door.
knock something on something
She knocked her head on a stone.
5 . knock on doors to go to every house or apartment in an area asking the people who live there for information or support:
Gathering that information means knocking on doors and asking people questions.
6 . be knocking on the door to be wanting to join a group or team – used in news reports:
Five countries have permanent seats on the UN Security Council, but Germany and Japan, among others, are knocking on the door.
7 . REMOVE WALL [transitive] to remove a wall or part of a building in order to make a bigger room or space
knock something into something
We could make a bigger living space by knocking two rooms into one.
knock something through
The wall between the kitchen and the dining room has been partially knocked through.
8 . knock a hole in/through something to make a hole in something, especially a wall:
We could knock a hole through the wall into the cupboard.
9 . CRITICIZE [transitive] to criticize someone or their work, especially in an unfair or annoying way:
The British press always knock British winners at any sport.
‘Designer fashion is silly.’ ‘Don’t knock it; it’s an important industry.’
10 . BALL [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to kick or hit a ball somewhere:
The aim is to knock the ball into the opposing goal.
11 . knock somebody for six British English informal to shock or upset someone very much or make them physically weak:
This flu has really knocked me for six.
12 . knock the stuffing out of somebody informal to make someone lose their confidence:
Suzanne was very upset when her mother left home. It knocked the stuffing out of her.
13 . knock somebody sideways British English to upset someone so much that it is difficult for them to deal with something:
His daughter’s death knocked Tom sideways.
14 . knock some sense into somebody/into sb’s head informal to make someone learn to behave in a more sensible way:
The struggle to build up her own business had knocked some sense into her.
15 . knock (sb’s) heads together informal to tell people who are arguing that they must stop and behave more sensibly:
None of them can agree and it needs someone to knock heads together.
16 . knock something on the head British English informal to stop something happening:
We wanted to go for a picnic, but the rain’s knocked that on the head.
17 . knock sb’s socks off ( also knock somebody dead ) spoken to surprise and please someone by being very impressive:
With that dress, you’ll knock him dead.
18 . knock somebody off their pedestal/perch to stop admiring someone that you previously thought was perfect:
The press were determined to knock the princess off the pedestal that they had put her on.
19 . knock spots off somebody/something British English spoken to be much better than someone or something:
The new computer system knocks spots off the old one.
20 . knock on wood American English used to say that you hope your good luck so far will not change SYN touch wood British English
21 . knock it off spoken used to tell someone to stop doing something, because it is annoying you
22 . MAKE A NOISE [intransitive] if an engine or pipes etc are knocking, they make a noise like something hard being hit, usually because something is wrong with them
23 . HEART [intransitive] if your heart is knocking, it is beating hard, especially because you are afraid SYN pound
24 . I’ll knock your head/block off spoken used when threatening to hit someone very hard:
If you say that again, I’ll knock your head off!
25 . knock the bottom out of something informal to make something such as a market or industry fail suddenly:
A sudden drop in supplies of certain chemicals could knock the bottom out of the engineering industry.
⇨ knock/beat somebody/something into a cocked hat at ↑ cocked hat (1), ⇨ knock somebody into shape at ↑ shape 1 (3), ⇨ knees knocking (together) at ↑ knee 1 (4)
knock around ( also knock about British English ) phrasal verb informal
1 . HIT SOMEBODY knock somebody around to hit someone several times:
My father used to knock me around.
2 . RELAX knock around (something) to spend time somewhere, without doing anything very serious or important SYN hang around :
On Saturdays I knock around with my friends.
We spent the day just knocking around the house.
3 . TRAVEL knock around something to travel to different places SYN kick around :
For a couple of years we knocked around the Mediterranean.
4 . IDEAS knock something ↔ around to discuss and think about an idea, plan etc with other people:
We’ve been knocking around a few ideas.
5 . BALL knock something around British English to play a game with a ball, but not in a serious way SYN kick about
6 . BE SOMEWHERE British English if something or someone is knocking around, it is somewhere but you are not sure exactly where:
Is there a screwdriver knocking about anywhere?
knock somebody/something back phrasal verb informal
1 . knock something ↔ back to quickly drink large quantities of a drink, especially an alcoholic drink:
Brenda knocked the brandy back quickly.
2 . knock somebody back something to cost you a lot of money:
His new car knocked him back several thousand dollars.
3 . knock somebody back British English to make someone feel upset, shocked, or physically weak
knock somebody/something down phrasal verb
1 . HIT/PUSH SOMEBODY knock somebody ↔ down to hit or push someone so that they fall to the ground:
Something hit him from behind and knocked him down.
⇨ ↑ knockdown 2
2 . HIT SOMEBODY WITH A VEHICLE knock somebody ↔ down to hit someone with a vehicle while you are driving, so that they are hurt or killed:
A child was in hospital last night after being knocked down by a car.
3 . DESTROY knock something ↔ down to destroy a building or part of a building SYN demolish :
They want to knock the house down and rebuild it.
4 . REDUCE PRICE knock something ↔ down informal to reduce the price of something by a large amount:
The new stove we bought was knocked down from $800 to $550.
⇨ ↑ knockdown 1
5 . ASK SOMEBODY TO REDUCE PRICE knock somebody down to something informal to persuade someone to reduce the price of something they are selling you:
She’s asking for £150 but I’ll try to knock her down to £100.
knock something into somebody phrasal verb
to make someone learn something:
Parsons must knock these lessons into the team before Saturday.
knock off phrasal verb informal
1 . STOP WORK knock off (something) to stop working and go somewhere else:
There was no one in the office because they’d all knocked off for lunch.
Do you want to knock off early today?
We usually knock off work at about twelve on Saturday.
2 . REDUCE A PRICE knock something ↔ off to reduce the price of something by a particular amount:
I’ll knock off £10.
knock something off something
Travel agents are knocking £50, and sometimes £100, off the price of holidays.
3 . REDUCE AMOUNT knock something ↔ off to reduce a total by a particular amount
knock something off something
Moving house will knock an hour off Ray’s journey to work.
4 . PRODUCE knock something ↔ off to produce something quickly and easily:
Roland makes a lot of money knocking off copies of famous paintings.
5 . MURDER knock somebody ↔ off to murder someone
6 . STEAL knock something ↔ off British English to steal something
knock out phrasal verb
1 . UNCONSCIOUS knock somebody ↔ out to make someone become unconscious or go to sleep:
The champion knocked Biggs out in the seventh round.
knock yourself out
His head hit a table as he fell and he knocked himself out.
The nurse gave me some medicine which totally knocked me out.
⇨ ↑ knockout 1 (1)
2 . DEFEAT knock somebody/something ↔ out to defeat a person or team in a competition so that they can no longer take part:
The German team were knocked out in the first round.
knock somebody/something out of something
He first hit the headlines when he knocked Becker out of the French Open Tournament.
⇨ ↑ knockout 1 (3)
3 . DESTROY knock something ↔ out to damage something so that it does not work:
The air raids were planned to knock out communications on the ground.
4 . ADMIRE knock somebody out informal if something knocks you out, it is very impressive and surprises you because it is so good:
She loved the movie. It knocked her out.
⇨ ↑ knockout 1 (2)
5 . PRODUCE knock something ↔ out informal to produce something easily and quickly:
Paul has been knocking out new songs for the album.
6 . knock yourself out informal to work very hard in order to do something well
knock somebody/something ↔ over phrasal verb
1 . to hit someone with a vehicle while you are driving, so that they are hurt or killed:
A woman was knocked over by a bus last year.
2 . American English informal to rob a place such as a shop or bank and threaten or attack the people who work there
knock something ↔ together phrasal verb informal
to make something quickly, using whatever you have available:
We should be able to knock something together with what’s in the fridge (=make a meal from items of food in the fridge) .
knock somebody/something ↔ up phrasal verb informal
1 . to make something quickly and without using much effort:
Michael knocked up a shed in the back garden.
2 . British English to wake someone up by knocking on their door:
What time do you want me to knock you up in the morning?
3 . informal not polite to make a woman ↑ pregnant
II. knock 2 BrE AmE noun
1 . [countable] the sound of something hard hitting a hard surface:
a loud knock at the door
a knock in the engine
2 . [countable] the action of something hard hitting your body:
He got a knock on the head when he fell.
3 . take a knock informal to have some bad luck or trouble:
Clive’s taken quite a few hard knocks lately.