knock back
Britishverb
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informal to drink, esp quickly
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informal to cost
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slang to reject or refuse
you cannot possibly knock back such an offer
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slang to come as an unpleasant surprise to; disconcert
noun
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slang a refusal or rejection
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slang:prison failure to obtain parole
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.
He also appeared to knock back a suggestion floated by the EU's defence commissioner Andrius Kubilius earlier this month for a possible European defence force that could replace US troops on the continent.
From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026
Former Australia pace bowler Mitchell Johnson labelled them "arrogant", which Stokes was right to knock back.
From BBC ● Dec. 25, 2025
The agency’s experts are confident scaling the pilot up now to knock back the barred owl invasion can give the northern spotted owl a chance at recovery.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 6, 2023
Late in the third quarter of Sunday’s game, the Commanders called a blitz, opting to forgo zone coverage on the back end to stay aggressive and knock back the Lions.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 19, 2022
Now it had redundant solar panels, whose frequent bursts of coordinated electricity were strong enough to knock back an elephant.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
