knacker
pronunciation
How to pronounce knacker in British English:
UK [ˈnækə(r)]
How to pronounce knacker in American English:
US [ˈnækɚ]
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- Noun:
- someone who buys old buildings or ships and breaks them up to recover the materials in them
- someone who buys up old horses for slaughter
Word Origin
- knacker (v.)
- usually in past tense, knackered, "to kill, castrate" (1855), but most often used in weakened sense of "to tire out" (1883); apparently from knacker (n.) "worn-out or useless horse," 1812, of unknown origin; possibly from a dialectal survival of a Scandinavian word represented by Old Norse hnakkur "saddle," hnakki "back of the neck," and thus possibly related to neck (n.).
Example
- 1. It would be turned over to cash-starved states , the fiscal equivalent of being sent to the knacker for execution .
- 2. An early morning ride might knacker you out in the short term , but it 'll help you catch some quality shut-eye when you get back to your pillow .
- 3. When it was discovered that the knacker and tanner would give only a very few shillings for prince 's carcase because of his decrepitude , durbeyfield rose to the occasion .
- 4. Fans of the g20 like the idea that it is not the tired old g8 , which they see as made up mainly of clapped-out european countries bound for the knacker 's yard of history .