knock about

verb

1. intr, adverb to wander about aimlessly
2. intr, preposition to travel about, esp as resulting in varied or exotic experience

   he's knocked about the world a bit

3. intr, adverbfoll bywith to associate

   to knock about with a gang

4. tr, adverb to treat brutally

   he knocks his wife about

5. tr, adverb to consider or discuss informally

   to knock an idea about

noun

1. a sailing vessel, usually sloop-rigged, without a bowsprit and with a single jib

adjective

1. rough; boisterous

   knockabout farce

Idioms and Phrases

Also, knock around .

Example Sentences

We have tastes in common; for instance, we do not like knock-about brothers at a music-hall—they bore us.

From Project Gutenberg

Certainly Edward Pierson shrank from the rough touches of a knock-about philosophy.

From Project Gutenberg

He has collected his knock-about money, his shearing, and his harvest money about the end of January.

From Project Gutenberg

There's a knock-about pantomime outfit at the Canterbury—Martinetti I think the name is—that's damned good.

From Project Gutenberg

Jones brought me home on that neat little knock-about spad he's just bought.

From Project Gutenberg