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Webster 1913 Edition

Knock

Knock

(nŏk)
,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Knocked
(nŏkt)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Knocking
.]
[OE.
knoken
, AS.
cnocian
,
cnucian
; prob. of imitative origin; cf. Sw.
knacka
. Cf.
Knack
.]
1.
To drive or be driven against something; to strike against something; to clash;
as, one heavy body
knocks
against another
.
Bacon.
2.
To strike or beat with something hard or heavy; to rap;
as, to
knock
with a club; to
knock
on the door.
For harbor at a thousand doors they
knocked
.
Dryden.
Seek, and ye shall find;
knock
, and it shall be opened unto you.
Matt. vii. 7.
To knock about
,
to go about, taking knocks or rough usage; to wander about; to saunter.
[Colloq.]
“Knocking about town.”
W. Irving.
–
To knock up
,
to fail of strength; to become wearied or worn out, as with labor; to give out.
“The horses were beginning to knock up under the fatigue of such severe service.”
De Quincey.
–
To knock off
,
to cease, as from work; to desist.
–
To knock under
,
to yield; to submit; to acknowledge one’s self conquered; – an expression probably borrowed from the practice of knocking under the table with the knuckles, when conquered.
“Colonel Esmond knocked under to his fate.”
Thackeray.

Knock

(nŏk)
,
Verb.
T.
1.
To strike with something hard or heavy; to move by striking; to drive (a thing) against something;
as, to
knock
a ball with a bat; to
knock
the head against a post; to
knock
a lamp off the table.
When heroes
knock
their knotty heads together.
Rowe.
2.
To strike for admittance; to rap upon, as a door.
Master,
knock
the door hard.
Shakespeare

Knock

,
Noun.
1.
A blow; a stroke with something hard or heavy; a jar.
2.
A stroke, as on a door for admittance; a rap.
“ A knock at the door.”
Longfellow.
A loud cry or some great
knock
.
Holland.

Webster 1828 Edition

Knock

KNOCK

,
Verb.
I.
nok.
1.
To strike or beat with something thick or heavy; as, to knock with a club or with the fist; to knock at the door. We never use this word to express beating with a small stick or whip.
2.
To drive or be driven against; to strike against; to clash; as when one heavy body knocks against another.
To knock under, to yield; to submit; to acknowledge to be conquered; an expression borrowed from the practice of knocking under the table, when conquered.

KNOCK

,
Verb.
T.
nok.
To strike; to drive against; as, to knock the head against a post.
1.
To strike a door for admittance; to rap.
To knock down, to strike down; to fell; to prostrate by a blow or by blows; as, to knock down an ox.
To knock out, to force out by a blow or by blows; as, to knock out the brains.
To knock up, to arouse by knocking. In popular use, to beat out; to fatigue till unable to do more.
To knock off, to force off by beating. At auctions, to assign to a bidder by a blow on the counter.
To knock on the head, to kill by a blow or by blows.

KNOCK

,
Noun.
nok.
A blow; a stroke with something thick or heavy.
1.
A stroke on a door, intended as a request for admittance; a rap.

Definition 2024

knock

knock

English

Noun

knock ‎(plural knocks)

  1. An abrupt rapping sound, as from an impact of a hard object against wood
    I heard a knock on my door.
  2. An impact.
    He took a knock on the head.
  3. (figuratively) criticism
    • 2012, Tom Lamont, How Mumford & Sons became the biggest band in the world (in The Daily Telegraph, 15 November 2012)
      Since forming in 2007 Mumford & Sons have hard-toured their way to a vast market for throaty folk that's strong on banjo and bass drum. They have released two enormous albums. But, wow, do they take some knocks back home.
  4. (cricket) a batsman's innings.
    He played a slow but sure knock of 35.
  5. (automotive) Preignition, a type of abnormal combustion occurring in spark ignition engines caused by self-ignition or the characteristic knocking sound associated with it.
  6. (cycling) Synonym of hunger knock

Translations

Verb

knock ‎(third-person singular simple present knocks, present participle knocking, simple past and past participle knocked)

  1. (intransitive) To rap one's knuckles against something, especially wood.
    Knock on the door and find out if they're home.
  2. (transitive, dated) To strike for admittance; to rap upon, as a door.
    • Shakespeare
      Master, knock the door hard.
  3. (transitive, intransitive, dated) To bump or impact.
    I knocked against the table and bruised my leg.
    I accidentally knocked my drink off the bar.
    • 1900, L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Chapter 23
      "The Silver Shoes," said the Good Witch, "have wonderful powers. And one of the most curious things about them is that they can carry you to any place in the world in three steps, and each step will be made in the wink of an eye. All you have to do is to knock the heels together three times and command the shoes to carry you wherever you wish to go."
  4. (colloquial) To denigrate, undervalue.
    Don't knock it until you've tried it.
  5. (soccer) To pass, kick a ball towards another player.
    • 2011 January 11, Jonathan Stevenson, “West Ham 2 - 1 Birmingham”, in BBC:
      Despite enjoying more than their fair share of possession the visitors did not look like creating anything, with their lack of a killer ball painfully obvious as they harmlessly knocked the ball around outside the home side's box without ever looking like they would hurt them.
  6. (slang, dated, Britain) To impress strongly or forcibly; to astonish; to move to admiration or applause.

Derived terms

Translations

Derived terms

Etymology

From Middle English knocken, knokken, from Old English cnocian, ġecnocian, cnucian ‎(“to knock, pound on, beat”), from Proto-Germanic *knukōną ‎(“to knock”), a suffixed form of *knu-, *kneu- ‎(“to pound on, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *gen- ‎(“to squeeze, pinch, kink, ball up, concentrate”). Akin to Old Norse knoka (compare Swedish knocka, Danish knuge, to hug) and Middle High German knochen ‎(“to hit”). Compare also Old English cnuian, cnuwian ‎(“to pound, knock”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /nɒk/
  • Rhymes: -ɒk
  • (US) IPA(key): /nɑk/

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