FromMiddle Englishknokken, fromOld Englishcnocian,ġecnocian,cnucian(“to knock, pound on, beat”), fromProto-West Germanic*knokōn, fromProto-Germanic*knukōną(“to knock”), a suffixed form of*knu-,*knew-(“to pound on, beat”), fromProto-Indo-European*gnew-,*gen-(“to squeeze, pinch, kink, ball up, concentrate”). The English word is cognate withMiddle High Germanknochen(“to hit”),Old Englishcnuian,cnuwian(“to pound, knock”),Old Norseknoka (compareDanishknuge(“to squeeze”),Swedishknocka(“to hug”)).

• (Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key):/nɒk/
• (General American)IPA^(key):/nɑk/

• Audio(General American):

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• Audio(General Australian):

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• Rhymes:-ɒk

knock (countable anduncountable,pluralknocks)

1. Anabruptrappingsound, as from animpact of ahardobject againstwood.
   • 1976,Ashford & Simpson, “It Came To Me”, inCome As You Are:

     It came to me, like aknock on the door / Erasing all that had gone before / Broken wings can be mended / But this love of ours, we've got to defend it

2. Asharp impact.

   He took aknock on the head.

3. (figuratively,informal) Acriticism.
   • 2012 November 15, Tom Lamont,The Daily Telegraph‎^[1]:

     Since forming in 2007 Mumford & Sons have hard-toured their way to a vast market for throaty folk that's strong on banjo and bass drum. They have released two enormous albums. But, wow, do they take someknocks back home.

4. (figuratively,informal) Ablow orsetback.
   • 1950, C. S. Lewis,The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:

     "Come on!" cried Mr. Beaver, who was almost dancing with delight. "Come and see! This is a nastyknock for the Witch! It looks as if her power was already crumbling."

5. (automotive,uncountable)Preignition, a type ofabnormalcombustionoccurring insparkignitionengines caused by self-ignition; also, thecharacteristic knocking sound associated with it.
6. (cricket,slang) Abatsman'sinnings.

   He had a goodknock and scored well.

7. (baseball) A ball hit into play, especially one that becomes ahit.

   He played a slow but sureknock of 35.

8. (cycling,uncountable)Synonym ofhunger knock

knock (third-person singular simple presentknocks,present participleknocking,simple past and past participleknocked)

1. (intransitive) To rap one'sknuckles against something, especiallywood.

   Knock on the door and find out if they’re home.

   • 1678,John Bunyan,The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London:[…] Nath[aniel] Ponder […],→OCLC,page 3:

     Then ſaidEvangeliſt, Keep that light in your eye, and go up directly thereto: ſo ſhalt thou ſee the Gate; at which, when thouknockeſt, it ſhall be told thee what thou ſhalt do.

2. (transitive,dated) Tostrike foradmittance; torap upon, as adoor.
   • c.1594 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act III, scene i]:

     Master,knock the door hard.

3. (transitive,colloquial, originallyUS) Tocriticizeverbally; todenigrate; toundervalue.

   Don’tknock it till you’ve tried it.

   • 1910,O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “The Thing's the Play”, inStrictly Business‎^[2]:

     And my friend, the reporter, could see nothing funny in this! Sent out on an assignment to write up a roaring, hilarious, brilliant joshing story of—but I will notknock a brother—let us go on with the story.

   • 1918,Norman Lindsay,The Magic Pudding, page148:

     A Judge must be respected, / A Judge you mustn'tknock / Or else you'll be detected / And shoved into the dock.

   • 1952,Ralph Ellison,Invisible Man, Penguin Books, published2014, page386:

     “And what do you care when some folks startknocking you? It’s a sign you getting some place.”

   • 1980 November 27, “Inclusive”, inThe New York Times‎^[3],→ISSN:

     The pious have sometimesknocked the day [Thanksgiving] for its laughter, its late sleeping, its overeating.

4. (transitive,soccer) Tokick aball towards anotherplayer; topass.
5. (transitive,baseball) Tohit a ball intoplay.
   • 2011 January 11, Jonathan Stevenson, “West Ham 2 – 1 Birmingham”, inBBC Sport‎^[4]:

     Despite enjoying more than their fair share of possession the visitors did not look like creating anything, with their lack of a killer ball painfully obvious as they harmlesslyknocked the ball around outside the home side's box without ever looking like they would hurt them.

6. (transitive,British,slang,dated) Toimpressforcibly orstrongly; toastonish; tomove toadmiration orapplause.
7. (ambitransitive,dated) Tobump orimpact.

   Iknocked against the table and bruised my leg.

   I accidentallyknocked my drink off the bar.

   • 1900 May 17,L[yman] Frank Baum, chapter 23, inThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.:Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co.,→OCLC:

     "The Silver Shoes," said the Good Witch, "have wonderful powers. And one of the most curious things about them is that they can carry you to any place in the world in three steps, and each step will be made in the wink of an eye. All you have to do is toknock the heels together three times and command the shoes to carry you wherever you wish to go."

8. (transitive,slang) Tohave sex with.

   Synonyms:knock off;see alsoThesaurus:copulate with

9. (transitive,slang) Toprosecute under thelaw; toarrest,imprison, etc.
   • 2006, Noire[pseudonym],Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.:One World,Ballantine Books,→ISBN,page134:

     The cops had busted us for selling hot designer bags up on Utica Avenue for some cat who figured we was too young to getknocked if we got caught, but two fat white po-pos said fuck how young we was, and threw us in a cell for damn near three days until they could contact Noojie to come get us out.

10. (intransitive,card games, rummy) To endplay by declaring one'shand to have under a certain amount ofdeadwood.

• “knock v.”, inGreen’s Dictionary of Slang,Jonathon Green, 2016–present
• [Francis Grose] (1785) “Knock”, inA Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, London:[…] S. Hooper, […],→OCLC: “to knock a woman, to have carnal knowledge of her”

knock

1. Alternative form ofknaugh

• Kathleen A. Browne (1927) “THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD.”, inJournal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of lreland (Sixth Series)‎^[5], volume17, number 2, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, page136