noun
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an object, usually ornamental and made of metal, attached to a door by a hinge and used for knocking
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informal a person who finds fault or disparages
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slang (usually plural) a female breast
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a person or thing that knocks
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informal promptly; at once
you pay on the knocker here
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of knocker
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at knock, -er 1
Vocabulary lists containing knocker
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The site of the charred doors, with grilled peep hole and ancient heavy knocker, stirred no emotion in her.
From New York Times ● Mar. 31, 2023
"Stay close to Troy or they gonna think you're a knocker."
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2021
“I’m a short knocker, but that Roberts hit the ball a mile. They knew they had the tournament in the bag, so they played like a couple of hackers on the 18th.”
From Golf Digest ● Apr. 21, 2020
When guests come calling, they’ll announce their arrival using her original door knocker: a metal kitchen trivet.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 5, 2019
On the rickety, old-fashioned stained- glass door, with its motifs of exotic birds, there was a bronze knocker in the shape of a woman’s hand pressing on a ball.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
Elphick said the vandals had removed two door knockers from the statue which were a nod to the 1986 fantasy film Labyrinth which Jones had co-written.
From BBC ● May 20, 2026
With both campaigns now turning to get-out-the-vote efforts, Caruso has spent about $13 million mustering about 300 to 400 door knockers who have fanned out across the city to remind voters about the election.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2022
But the door knockers didn’t explain where to vote or promote a candidate, the usual work of canvassers ahead of a big election.
From Reuters ● Nov. 3, 2022
Census Bureau is short by more than 25% of the door knockers needed for the 2020 census, according to its watchdog agency, and it’s about to let go of its least productive census takers.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 21, 2020
He adjusted hinges, oiled locks, screwed knockers tight, and planed doorjambs.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
