Link Centre Dictionary

knock

UK/nɒk/ US/nɑk/ common informal slang uk
verb (6) noun (5)

verb

1.

deliver a sharp blow or push :"He knocked the glass clear across the room"

Synonyms
2.

rap with the knuckles

  • “knock on the door”
3.

knock against with force or violence

  • “My car bumped into the tree”
Synonyms
4.

make light, repeated taps on a surface

  • “he was tapping his fingers on the table impatiently”
Synonyms
5.

sound like a car engine that is firing too early

  • “the car pinged when I put in low-octane gasoline”
  • “The car pinked when the ignition was too far retarded”
Synonyms
6.

find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws

  • “The paper criticized the new movie”
  • “Don”
  • “s free”
Synonyms
Antonyms

noun

1.

the sound of knocking (as on a door or in an engine or bearing)

  • “the knocking grew louder”
Synonyms
2.
3.

a vigorous blow

  • “the sudden knock floored him”
  • “he took a bash right in his face”
  • “he got a bang on the head”
Synonyms
4.

a bad experience

  • “the school of hard knocks”
5.

the act of hitting vigorously

  • “he gave the table a whack”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English knokken, from Old English cnocian, ġecnocian, ġecnucian, cnucian (“to knock, pound on, beat”), from Proto-West Germanic *knokōn, from Proto-Germanic *knukōną (“to knock”), a suffixed form of *knu-, *knew- (“to pound on, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *gnew-, *gen- (“to squeeze, pinch, kink, ball up, concentrate”). The English word is cognate with Middle High German knochen (“to hit”), Old English cnuian, cnuwian (“to pound, knock”), Old Norse knoka (compare Danish knuge (“to squeeze”), Swedish knocka (“to hug”)). More at knuckle.

Phrases

  • come knocking
  • cop knock
  • death knock
  • diesel knock
  • don't knock it till you've tried it
  • don't knock yourself out
  • engine knock
  • hard knock
  • job and knock
  • knock a buzzard off a gut wagon
  • knock a buzzard off a shit wagon
  • knock a dog off a gut wagon

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

See also

Entails

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.