Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - knock

~1 v 1 »DOOR/WINDOW« to hit a door or window with your closed hand to attract the attention of the people inside  (Why don't you knock before you come in?) + at/on  (I turned to see Jane knocking frantically on the taxi window.) 2 »HIT/MAKE STH MOVE« I always + adv/prep, to hit someone or something with a short quick action, so that it moves, falls down etc  (Don't knock the camera, the picture will be blurry.)  (knock sth down/off/over etc)  (The dog managed to knock over a table.)  (knock sth against/into/in)  (I need a hammer to knock these tent pegs in. | knock sb/sth flying BrE informal (=hit something or someone so that they move a long distance))  (Holly ran through the crowd, knocking people flying. | knock a hole in (=make a hole in something)) 3 »HIT SB HARD« a) knock sb flat/knock sb to the ground to hit someone so hard that they fall down  (His assailant knocked him to the ground and ran off with his briefcase.) b) knock sb unconscious/senseless to hit someone so hard that they fall unconscious  (The blast from the explosion knocked him unconscious.) c) knock the living daylights out of/hell out of informal to hit someone many times or very hard 4 I'll knock your block off spoken used when threatening to hit someone very hard  (If you touch her, I'll knock your block off!) 5 knock it off spoken used to tell someone to stop doing something, because it is annoying you  ("Hey, knock it off!" Jesse shouted furiously.) 6 »CRITICIZE« to criticize someone or their work, especially in an unfair or annoying way  (Some movie reviewers seem to knock every picture they see. | don't knock it spoken (=used to tell someone not to criticize something))  ("Bungee jumping! You must be crazy!" "Don't knock it till you've tried it.") 7 knock sb/sth into shape informal to make changes to something in order to make it good enough  (We've only got until Thursday to knock this play into shape.) 8 »MAKE A NOISE« if an engine or pipes etc knock, they make a noise like something hard being hit, usually because something is wrong with them 9 »BALL« T always + adv/prep to kick or hit a ball somewhere  (knock sth about/past/back etc)  (We were just knocking a ball about in the yard.) 10 knock the stuffing out of informal to make someone lose their confidence  (Getting such low grades this semester seems to have knocked the stuffing out of him.) 11 knock sb's socks off also knock 'em dead spoken to surprise and please someone by being very impressive  (Go out there and knock 'em dead, kid.) 12 knock some sense into sb/into sb's head informal to make someone learn to behave in a more sensible way  (Who knows. Maybe getting arrested will knock some sense into him.) 13 knock spots off BrE spoken to be much better than someone or something  (Our new computer system knocks spots off the old one.) 14 knock sth on the head BrE informal to prevent you from doing something you have planned  (I wanted to go for a picnic, but the rain's knocked that on the head.) 15 knock (sb's) heads together informal to talk angrily to people who are quarrelling or behaving stupidly  (If you kids don't settle down I'm going to come up and knock your heads together!) 16 you could have knocked me down with a feather old-fashioned used to emphasize how surprised you were by something  (When I heard I'd won, you could have knocked me down with a feather.) 17 knock the bottom out of informal to make something, such as a price much lower or weaker  (A rise in interest rates would completely knock the bottom out of the property market.)  (- see also with your knees knocking (together) knee1 (4)) knock around also knock about BrE phr v informal 1 »HIT SB« T knock someone about/around) to hit someone several times  (My father used to knock me and my brother around a lot.) 2 »RELAX« to spend time in a relaxing way, without doing anything very important  (knock around town/the house etc)  (We spent the weekend just knocking around the house.) 3 »TRAVEL« T knock around something) to travel to different places  (I've knocked around a few places in my life.) 4 »IDEAS« T knock something around) to discuss and think about an idea, plan etc with other people  (We've been knocking around a few ideas.) 5 »BALL« T knock something about) BrE to play a game with a ball, but not in a serious way 6 »BE SOMEWHERE« BrE if something or someone is knocking around a place, it is somewhere in that place but you are not sure exactly where  (Is there a screwdriver knocking about anywhere?) knock back phr v informal 1 (knock something back) to quickly drink large quantities of an alcoholic drink  (knock it/them back)  (spoken)  (Steve can really knock it back - he's drunk five pints already.) 2 (knock someone back something) to cost you a lot of money  (Our summer holiday knocked us back -600 this year.) 3 (knock someone back) BrE to surprise or shock someone  (The news of her death really knocked him back.) knock down phr v 1 »DRIVING A CAR« (knock someone down) to hit someone with a car while you are driving, so that they are hurt or killed  (He was knocked down by a drunk driver. | get knocked down)  (Someone said a kid got knocked down by a truck.) 2 »DESTROY« (knock something down) to destroy a building or part of a building  (We knocked down one of the walls to make a bigger kitchen.) 3 »REDUCE PRICE« (knock something down) informal to reduce the price of something by a large amount  (The new stove we bought was knocked down from $800 to $550.)  (- see also knockdown) 4 »ASK SB TO REDUCE PRICE« (knock someone down to) informal to persuade someone to reduce the price of something they are selling you  (I tried to knock him down to -50.) 5 »DRINK« (knock something down) AmE informal to quickly drink large quantities of an alcoholic drink 6 »PROVE STH WRONG« (knock something down) BrE informal to prove that an idea, plan etc is not good or right  (They knocked the proposal down on the grounds that it was impractical.) knock sth into sth phr v to make two rooms into one room by taking away the wall that divides them  (We knocked the sitting room and the dining room into one.) knock off phr v informal 1 »STOP WORK« to stop working at the end of the day, before lunch etc  (What time do you knock off for lunch? | knock off early)  (Is it okay if I knock off a little early today? | knock off work)  (Alex usually knocks off work about 5:30. | knock off for the day)  (We knocked off for the day at eight.) 2 »REDUCE A PRICE« T knock something off) to reduce the price of something by a particular amount  (He said he'd knock off a couple of pounds if I bought two.) 3 »REDUCE AMOUNT« T knock something off) to take a particular amount away from a total  (We're knocking off one mark for each mistake.) 4 »PRODUCE« T knock something off) to produce something quickly and easily  (Roland makes huge amounts of money knocking off copies of famous paintings.) 5 »MURDER« T knock someone off) to murder someone 6 »STEAL« T knock something off) BrE to steal something, especially easily 7 »SEX« T knock someone off) BrE slang to have sex with someone knock out phr v 1 »UNCONSCIOUS« (knock someone/something out) to make someone become unconscious  (Tyson knocked out his opponent in Round 5. | The shock from an electric eel is powerful enough to knock a man out.)  (- see also knockout1 (2)) 2 »DEFEAT« (knock someone/something out) to defeat a person or team in a competition so that they can no longer take part  (knock sb out of)  (Indiana knocked Purdue out of the semifinals.)  (- see also knockout1 (4)) 3 »ADMIRE« (knock someone out) informal to make you feel surprised and full of admiration  (The music was just brilliant - it really knocked me out.) 4 »SHOCK« (knock someone out) informal to shock someone so much that they do not know what to say or do  (When she told me the real truth it just totally knocked me out.) 5 »PRODUCE WITH DIFFICULTY« (knock something out) BrE informal produce something, especially when you find this difficult  (It took him several years to knock out a book on the subject. | knock sth out of Let's see if we can knock a decent sound out of this old piano.) 6 »PRODUCE EASILY« (knock something out) AmE informal to produce something easily and quickly, especially so that it is not of very good quality  (We can knock out about 50 dresses in a day.) 7 knock yourself out informal to work very hard in order to do something well  (The Nelsons really knocked themselves out to give Amy a nice wedding.) knock over phr v 1 (knock someone over) to hit someone with a car while you are driving, so that they are hurt or killed  (Beth was knocked over by a motorcyclist when she was crossing the street.) 2 (knock something over) AmE informal to rob a place such as a shop or bank and threaten or attack the people who work there knock sth together phr v informal to make something quickly, using whatever you have available  (We should be able to knock something together with what's in the fridge.) knock up phr v 1 (knock something up) informal to make something quickly and without using much effort  (A local carpenter knocked up some kitchen units for us out of old pine.) 2 (knock someone up) BrE informal to wake someone up by knocking on their door  (What time do you want me to knock you up in the morning?) 3 (knock someone up) informal to make a woman pregnant ~2 n 1 the sound of something hard hitting a hard surface  (a loud knock at the door | a knock in the engine) 2 the action of something hard hitting your body  (He got a knock on the head when he fell.) 3 take a knock informal to have some bad luck or trouble  (Clive's taken quite a few hard knocks lately.)