knock
pronunciation
How to pronounce knock in British English:
UK [nɒk]
How to pronounce knock in American English:
US [nɑːk]
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- Noun:
- the sound of knocking (as on a door or in an engine or bearing)
- negative criticism
- a vigorous blow
- a bad experience
- the act of hitting vigorously
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- Verb:
- deliver a sharp blow or push :"He knocked the glass clear across the room"
- rap with the knuckles
- knock against with force or violence
- make light, repeated taps on a surface
- sound like a car engine that is firing too early
- find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws
Word Origin
- knock
- knock: [OE] knock is a classic onomatopoeic word: that is to say, it originated in a direct imitation of the sound it denotes. The similar Swedish knacka ‘knock’ may be related. The figurative use of the word for ‘criticize’ originated in late 19th-century America.
- knock (v.)
- Old English cnocian (West Saxon cnucian), "to pound, beat; knock (on a door)," likely of imitative origin. Meaning "deprecate, put down" is from 1892. Related: Knocked; knocking. Knock-kneed first attested 1774. Knock-down, drag-out is from 1827. Command knock it off "stop it" is first recorded 1880, perhaps from auctioneer's term for "dispose of quickly:" At the commencement of the sales, he gave every one that wanted to purchase a paper containing a description of the lands that were to be sold; and, as the sales were cried, he called over the numbers and described the land; and when it got up to one dollar and a quarter an acre, if no body bid, after it was cried two or three times, he would say, knock it off, knock it off. [U.S. Senate record, 1834]
- knock (n.)
- mid-14c., from knock (v.). As an engine noise, from 1899.
Example
- 1. Eg. he rushed into the room without troubling to knock .
- 2. In a panic , she managed to knock out the crocodile and free herself .
- 3. But his career has taken a knock .
- 4. It does not take much to knock confidence in the chinese stock market these days .
- 5. The other knock on combat photographers is that they are cynics who have no loyalties or values .