knock

knock¹ W3S1 [nɔk US na:k] v

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1¦(door)¦

2¦(hit and move something)¦

3¦(hit somebody hard)¦

4¦(hit part of your body)¦

5 knock on doors

6 be knocking on the door

7¦(remove wall)¦

8 knock a hole in/through something

9¦(criticize)¦

10¦(ball)¦

11 knock somebody for six

12 knock the stuffing out of somebody

13 knock somebody sideways

14 knock some sense into somebody/into somebody's head

15 knock (somebody's) heads together

16 knock something on the head

17 knock somebody's socks off

18 knock somebody off their pedestal/perch

19 knock spots off somebody/something

20 knock on wood

21 knock it off

22¦(make a noise)¦

23¦(heart)¦

24 I'll knock your head/block off

25 knock the bottom out of something

Phrasal verbs

　knock around

　knock somebody/something back

　knock somebody/something down

　knock something into somebody

　knock off

　knock out

　knock somebody/something<=>over

　knock something<=>together

　knock somebody/something<=>up

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[: Old English; Origin: cnocian]

1.) ¦(DOOR)¦

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)¦ [T always + adverb/preposition]

to hit something with a short quick action so that it moves or falls

knock sth out of/from sth

▪ As I got up, I knocked a pencil out of its holder.

▪ He knocked the knife from my hand.

knock sth over

▪ At that moment, Sally knocked over her glass of wine.

knock sth aside

▪ She tried to knock the gun aside but she was not fast enough.

3.) ¦(HIT SOMEBODY HARD)¦ [T always + adverb/preposition]

to hit someone very hard

▪ He knocked her to the ground and kicked her.

knock sb 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)¦ [T]

to hit something with part of your body

knock sth against sth

▪ Morse knocked his shin against a large suitcase standing just inside the door.

knock sth on sth

▪ 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)¦ [T]

to remove a wall or part of a building in order to make a bigger room or space

knock sth into sth

▪ We could make a bigger living space by knocking two rooms into one.

knock sth through

▪ The wall between the kitchen and the dining room has been partially knocked through.

8.) knock a hole in/through sth

to make a hole in something, especially a wall

▪ We could knock a hole through the wall into the cupboard.

9.) ¦(CRITICIZE)¦ [T]

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)¦ [T always + adverb/preposition]

to kick or hit a ball somewhere

▪ The aim is to knock the ball into the opposing goal.

11.) knock sb for six

[i]BrE 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 sb 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 sb sideways

BrE 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 sb/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 sth on the head

BrE 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 sb dead

spoken to surprise and please someone by being very impressive

▪ With that dress and your new haircut, you'll knock him dead.

18.) knock sb 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 sb/sth

BrE spoken to be much better than someone or something

▪ The new computer system knocks spots off the old one.

20.) knock on wood

AmE used to say that you hope your good luck so far will not change

British Equivalent: touch wood

21.) knock it off

spoken used to tell someone to stop doing something, because it is annoying you

22.) ¦(MAKE A NOISE)¦

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)¦ [I]

if your heart is knocking, it is beating hard, especially because you are afraid

= ↑pound

24.) I'll knock your head/block off

[i]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 sth 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 sb/sth into a cocked hat at ↑cocked hat, knock sb into shape at ↑shape¹ (3), knees knocking (together) at ↑knee¹ (4)

knock around phr v

1.) ¦(HIT SOMEBODY)¦

knock sb around

to hit someone several times

▪ My father used to knock me and my brother around.

2.) ¦(RELAX)¦

knock around (sth)

to spend time somewhere, without doing anything very serious or important

= hang-around

▪ On Saturdays I knock around with my friends.

▪ We spent the day just knocking around the house.

3.) ¦(TRAVEL)¦

knock around sth

to travel to different places

= ↑kick around

▪ For a couple of years we knocked around the Mediterranean.

4.) ¦(IDEAS)¦

knock sth<=>around

to discuss and think about an idea, plan etc with other people

▪ We've been knocking around a few ideas.

5.) ¦(BALL)¦

knock sth around

BrE to play a game with a ball, but not in a serious way

= kick about

6.) ¦(BE SOMEWHERE)¦

BrE 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 back [knock sb/sth back] phr v

1.) knock sth<=>back

to quickly drink large quantities of a drink, especially an alcoholic drink

▪ Brenda knocked the brandy back quickly.

2.) knock sb back sth

to cost you a lot of money

▪ His new car knocked him back several thousand dollars.

3.) knock sb back

BrE to make someone feel upset, shocked, or physically weak

knock down [knock sb/sth down] phr v

1.) ¦(HIT/PUSH SOMEBODY)¦

knock sb<=>down

to hit or push someone so that they fall to the ground

▪ Something hit him from behind and knocked him down.

→↑knockdown²

2.) ¦(HIT SOMEBODY WITH A VEHICLE)¦

knock sb<=>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 sth<=>down

to destroy a building or part of a building

= ↑demolish

▪ They want to knock the house down and rebuild it.

4.) ¦(REDUCE PRICE)¦

knock sth<=>down informal

to reduce the price of something by a large amount

▪ The new stove we bought was knocked down from $800 to $550.

→↑knockdown¹

5.) ¦(ASK SOMEBODY TO REDUCE PRICE)¦

knock sb down to sth 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 into [knock sth into sb] phr v

to make someone learn something

▪ Parsons must knock these lessons into the team before Saturday.

knock off phr v

1.) ¦(STOP WORK)¦

knock off (sth)

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 sth<=>off

to reduce the price of something by a particular amount

▪ I'll knock off £10.

knock sth off sth

▪ Travel agents are knocking £50 and sometimes £100 off the price of holidays.

3.) ¦(REDUCE AMOUNT)¦

knock sth<=>off

to reduce a total by a particular amount

knock sth off sth

▪ Moving house will knock an hour off Ray's journey to work.

4.) ¦(PRODUCE)¦

knock sth<=>off

to produce something quickly and easily

▪ Roland makes a lot of money knocking off copies of famous paintings.

5.) ¦(MURDER)¦

knock sb<=>off

to murder someone

6.) ¦(STEAL)¦

knock sth<=>off

BrE to steal something

knock out phr v

1.) ¦(UNCONSCIOUS)¦

knock sb<=>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.

→↑knockout¹ (1)

2.) ¦(DEFEAT)¦

knock sb/sth<=>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 sb/sth out of sth

▪ He first hit the headlines when he knocked Becker out of the French Open Tournament.

→↑knockout¹ (3)

3.) ¦(DESTROY)¦

knock sth<=>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 sb 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.

→↑knockout¹ (2)

5.) ¦(PRODUCE)¦

knock sth<=>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 over [knock sb/sth<=>over] phr v

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.) AmE informal to rob a place such as a shop or bank and threaten or attack the people who work there

knock together [knock sth<=>together] phr v

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 up [knock sb/sth<=>up] phr v

1.) to make something quickly and without using much effort

▪ Michael knocked up a shed in the back garden.

2.) BrE 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

knock ²

knock² n

1.)

the sound of something hard hitting a hard surface

▪ a loud knock at the door

▪ a knock in the engine

2.)

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.