knock
Americanverb (used without object)
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knocks,
present (3rd person singular)
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knocked,
past participle, past
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knocking
present participle
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to strike a sounding blow with the fist, knuckles, or anything hard, especially on a door, window, or the like, as in seeking admittance, calling attention, or giving a signal.
to knock on the door before entering.
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to strike in collision; bump.
He knocked into a table.
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to make a pounding noise.
The engine of our car is knocking badly.
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Informal. to engage in trivial or carping criticism; find fault.
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Cards. to end a game, as in gin rummy, by laying down a hand in which those cards not included in sets total less than a specific amount.
verb (used with object)
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knocks,
present (3rd person singular)
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knocked,
past participle, past
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knocking
present participle
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to give a sounding or forcible blow to; hit; strike; beat.
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to drive, force, or render by a blow or blows.
to knock a man senseless.
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to make by striking a blow or blows.
to knock a hole in the wall.
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to strike (a thing) against something else.
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Informal. to criticize, especially in a carping manner.
He's always knocking everything.
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British Slang. to astound; impress greatly.
noun
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knocks
plural
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an act or instance of knocking.
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the sound of knocking, especially a rap, as at a door.
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a blow or thump.
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Informal. an adverse criticism.
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the noise resulting from faulty combustion or from incorrect functioning of some part of an internal-combustion engine.
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Cricket. an innings.
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British Slang.
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one of a combination of dealers who bid together, rather than against each other, at an auction, and later resell the purchases among themselves.
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an auction at which this is done.
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the sale of merchandise recently obtained by a dealer at an auction.
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verb phrase
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knock up
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Slang. to make pregnant.
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to exhaust; weary; tire.
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to damage; mar.
The children knocked up the new table.
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to injure; wound.
He was afraid to come home from school all knocked up again.
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British. to wake up; rouse; call.
He knocked us up before dawn.
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knock together to make or construct in a hurry or with little attention to detail.
He knocked together a couple of tables.
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knock around / about
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to wander aimlessly or idly; loaf.
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to mistreat (someone), especially physically.
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to jar; shake up.
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knock off
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Informal. to cease activity, especially work.
to knock off at five every day.
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to stop doing something; quit.
Knock it off or you'll get into a mess.
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Slang. to dispose of; finish.
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Slang. to murder; kill.
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Slang. to die.
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Slang. to get rid of; reduce.
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Slang. to disable or defeat.
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Slang. to commit a robbery at; steal from.
The gang knocked off a gas station.
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Nautical Slang. to blow the head (of a sailing vessel) off the wind.
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to imitate, copy, or plagiarize.
to knock off designer dresses in cheap materials.
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knock back to drink (a beverage), especially quickly and heartily.
He knocked back two shots of vodka.
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knock out
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to defeat (an opponent) in a boxing match by striking such a blow that the opponent is unable to rise within the specified time.
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to render (a person) unconscious.
Those sleeping pills knocked me out for ten hours.
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to make tired or exhausted.
Christmas shopping always knocks me out.
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Informal. to produce quickly, hurriedly, or with ease.
He knocks out two poems a day.
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to damage or destroy.
The explosion knocked out the power for several hours.
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knock over
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to strike (someone or something) from an erect to a prone position.
to knock over a lamp.
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to distress; overcome.
When the announcement came we were completely knocked over.
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Slang. to rob, burglarize, or hijack.
He knocked over five banks.
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knock down
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to sell at auction by a blow of the hammer or to a bidder.
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to take apart or disassemble, as for facility in handling, storing, shipping, etc.
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Slang. to receive, as a salary or a scholastic grade; earn.
He knocks down 30 grand a year.
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Informal. to lower the price of; reduce.
to knock down end-of-season leftovers.
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Slang. to embezzle or steal (money).
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to cause (a sailing vessel) to heel, as by a gust of wind, to such a degree that it cannot right itself.
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idioms
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knock out of the box, to cause a pitcher to be removed from the box because the pitcher has permitted too many hits to be made. Also knock out.
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knock the / one's socks off, to have an overwhelming effect on.
The song knocked the socks off the audience.
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have it knocked, to be assured of success.
With a government job, he thought he had it knocked.
verb
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(tr) to give a blow or push to; strike
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(intr) to rap sharply with the knuckles, a hard object, etc, esp to capture attention
to knock at the door
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(tr) to make or force by striking
to knock a hole in the wall
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to collide (with)
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(tr) to bring into a certain condition by hitting or pushing
to knock someone unconscious
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informal (tr) to criticize adversely; belittle
to knock someone's work
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Also: pink. (intr) (of an internal-combustion engine) to emit a characteristic metallic noise as a result of faulty combustion
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(intr) (of a bearing, esp one in an engine) to emit a regular characteristic sound as a result of wear
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slang to have sexual intercourse with (a person)
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informal to hit a person with a very heavy blow
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to have a violent or unpleasant encounter with (adverse facts or circumstances)
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to daze or kill (a person) by striking on the head
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effectively to prevent the further development of (a plan)
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noun
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a blow, push, or rap
he gave the table a knock
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the sound so caused
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the sound of knocking in an engine or bearing
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informal a misfortune, rebuff, or setback
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informal unfavourable criticism
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informal (in cricket) an innings or a spell of batting
Usage
What is a basic definition of knock? Knock is a verb that means to hit something by bumping into it. Knock also means to repeatedly strike something to make a noise. Knock is used as a noun to mean a sound made by repeated tapping. Knock has many other senses as a verb and a noun. It is also used in several idioms. Knock means to strike something by bumping into it or colliding with it. This sense of knock is often followed by what was bumped into (knocked onto the floor).
- Real-life examples: In bowling, the goal is to knock down all of the pins with a bowling ball. In boxing, the competitors repeatedly knock each other in the head and body with their fists. It is difficult to build a house of cards without accidentally knocking it over.
- Used in a sentence: Shawna wasn’t paying attention and accidentally knocked over a stack of boxes.
- Used in a sentence: He knocked on the wall with his umbrella to get everyone’s attention.
- Used in a sentence: I think you have a visitor because I heard a knock at the door.
Synonym Usage
See strike.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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knocksimple
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knockssimple
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have knockedperfect
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has knockedperfect
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am knockingprogressive
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are knockingprogressive
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is knockingprogressive
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have been knockingperfect progressive
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has been knockingperfect progressive
Past
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knockedsimple
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had knockedperfect
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was knockingprogressive
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were knockingprogressive
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had been knockingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of knock
First recorded before 1000; 1890–95 knock for def. 4; Middle English knokken, knoken (verb), Old English cnocian, cnucian; cognate with Old Norse knoka “to thump, knock”
Explanation
When you knock, you bump or strike someone or something. When you hear a knock at the door, someone on the other side is thumping it with their knuckles. You can accidentally knock your grandmother's special glass bowl off the table, and you can also knock softly on her door — or tap with your knuckles — before you go in and tell her how sorry you are. If a car engine knocks, it makes a rattling or rapping sound. Colloquially, to knock something is to reject or criticize it, and if you do, you may hear the phrase, "Don't knock it until you try it!"
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:
“So far, knock wood, I have not worked on a book where the author has said, ‘You’re right.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
When these materials slam into Earth's magnetic shield, they can knock out satellites, threaten astronauts -- and create colourful auroras in the skies of northern and southern latitudes.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
Workers regularly collect the trapped mosquitoes and, after sticking them in a fridge for a while to knock them out, sort them by species and count them.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
It was reported today that Osasuna have enquired about Tierney, although that same article suggested Celtic chiefs will knock back any offers for the 29-year-old.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Someone had managed to knock it from the sill.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
In theory, the decision knocks years off Henrikson’s sentence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
"When someone knocks on your door and tells you: 'Get up, come on, leave here. This is real, you have to go.'"
From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026
"You'll have some knocks in life, but don't take it personally, it's normal."
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
The standard homestead exemption knocks $2,000 off the assessed value of all primary residences.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 15, 2026
She knocks books around on the shelf, picking one up, dropping it, flipping through another.
From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari
Since then they have knocked down 115 blighted homes, helping trigger new construction and renovations on those blocks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
When a flood knocked Justin O’Neill’s kitchen out of commission in 2022, he and his wife decided to use the opportunity to do a full remodel.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026
In a recent study, Ang found that over the past century, federal income taxes knocked the 10.5% average annual return on U.S. stocks down to 7%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Three weeks after going to number one, it was knocked off the top spot by Harry Styles' American Girls, but only for seven days.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Again—before I could stop him—he bit the wire and again he was knocked down.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
They organized a food train, and Scott was the one who set up a cooler on my front porch and insisted people drop food without knocking, knowing we were overwhelmed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Lourdes Ramirez-Ortiz said district officials will be knocking on doors to ask how they can help make families feel safer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
A retoucher is used to strike the edge of a worn stone tool, knocking off small flakes to restore its intended form and cutting edge.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026
On a humid morning before Saturday's rally, Corie Johnson was knocking on voters' doors for the first time in her life.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Even the thought of knocking on her door dried my mouth and dampened my hands.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
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.
