| 释义 |
▪ I. knock, v.|nɒk|
Forms: 1 cnucian, cnocian, 2 cnokien, 4 cnoke, 4–5 knoke, knokke, 4–6 knok, 4–7 knocke, 4, 6– knock.
[Late OE. cnocian, beside usual WS. cnucian; cf. ON. knoka; prob. of echoic origin. The relations between the u and o forms are obscure.]
I.
1. a. intr. To strike with a sounding blow, as with the fist or something hard; esp. to rap upon a door or gate in order to call attention or gain admittance (const. at, † on, † upon).
c1000ælfric Hom. II. 382 He..cnucode æt ðære dura. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. vii. 7 Cnuciað and eow biþ ontyned. Ibid. Luke xii. 36 Þonne he cymð and cnucað. 10..in Assmann Angels. Homil. (Kassel) 1889 Heo..fæstlice on þære cytan duru cnocode. c1160Hatton Gosp. Matt. vii. 7 Cnokieð and eow beoð untyned. Ibid. Luke xii. 36 Þanne he cymð and cnokeð. c1320Orfeo 363 Orpheo knocked at the gate. 13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 726 Quen such þer cnoken on þe bylde, Tyt schal hem men þe ȝate vnpynne. 1382Wyclif Matt. vii. 7 Knocke ȝe, and it shal be opnyd to ȝou. c1386Chaucer Miller's T. 246 Clepe at his dore, or knokke with a stoon. c1425Wyntoun Cron. viii. xxxv. 72 Þare knokide he Wyth-owte þe Dure. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. v. i. 16 What's he that knockes as he would beat downe the gate? 1608R. Armin Nest Ninn. (1842) 13 They knockt to the dresser, and the dinner went up. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 195 To knock upon the back of the Cleaving Knife. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xix, She stood before her lover's door and knocked for admittance. 1891E. Peacock N. Brendon I. 115 He knocked at the door.
fig.c1374Chaucer Compl. Mars 84 With torch in honde of whiche the stremes briȝt On venus Chaumbre knokkide ful lyȝt. 1563Winȝet Four Scoir Thre Quest. To Rdr., Wks. 1888 I. 61 Sa grete is the guidnes of God to knok at the breist of man. 1610Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 8 The cry did knocke Against my very heart. 1858Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. II. 2 A sense of his agony..came knocking at my heart.
b. Without reference to the sound produced: To give a hard blow, to beat; to give blows; † ellipt. To strike upon the breast (obs.).
a1300Cursor M. 29092 Knock on brest wit hand. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 414 Ta now þy grymme tole to þe, & let see how þou cnokez. 1562in Strype Ann. Ref. (1824) I. i. xxix. 503 Divers communicants..superstitiously both kneel and knock. 1583Babington Commandm. ii. (1590) 87 To fall downe before a stocke and a stone, and to doo it reuerence, capping, kneeling, knocking,..and such like.
c. trans. with indefinite obj. it, To give knocks; also, with cognate obj.
1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. iv. 108 Let the Musicke knocke it. 1682N. O. Boileau's Lutrin ii. 183 He resolv'd at a Dead pinch to knock it. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop xxxv, We have knocked double-knocks at the street-door. 1865J. H. Newman Gerontius §1 A visitant Is knocking his dire summons at my door.
2. a. trans. To give a hard blow or blows to; to hit, strike, beat, hammer; † to beat into small pieces, pound (obs.). Also with extension expressing result, as to knock to (or in) pieces, etc., to knock a hole, gap, etc.; to knock daylight into (cf. daylight 1 c).
c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 142 ᵹenim þonne þa leaf, cnuca on anum mortere. Ibid. 168 ᵹenim þa wyrte ᵹecnucude [MS. B. ᵹecnocode]. Ibid. 382 Cnuciᵹe ealle ða wyrta. c1075Indicia Monasterialia in Techmer's Zeitschrift II. 125 Þonne weᵹe þu þine fyst, swilce þu wyrta cnocian wille. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 397 He bygan benedicite with a bolke, and his brest knocked. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. xcvii. (Tollem, MS.), It [flax] is..knokked and bete, breyed and carfled. c1400Destr. Troy 2601 Kylle of hor knightes, knocke hom to dethe. a1400–50Alexander 639 Him wald he kenely on þe croune knok with his tablis. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 172 b, Some knocked other on the elbow, and said softly he lieth. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, ii. i. 58, I haue an humor to knocke you indifferently well. 1602― Ham. ii. i. 81 His knees knocking each other. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 37 The Bar knocking in pieces all that are inflexible. 1822–34Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 424 [He] runs to open the door when it is knocked. 1881Punch 17 Sept. 124/1 Ready at the call of duty to frame a new programme or knock daylight into an old one. 1890A. Conan Doyle Sign of Four iv. 68 He knocked a hole..in the lath and plaster ceiling. 1906Somerville & ‘Ross’ Some Irish Yesterdays 85 You may see him skilfully ‘knocking a gap’ (i.e. unbuilding a wall).
†b. fig. To strike with astonishment, alarm, or confusion; to confound; to ‘floor’. Obs. colloq.
1715S. Sewall Diary 1 Feb. (1882) III. 37 Mr. Winthrop was so knockt that he said it could not be done.
c. To ‘strike’ forcibly, make a strong impression on; to move to admiration, ‘fetch’. slang.
1883Referee 6 May 3/3 (Farmer) ‘It's Never too Late to Mend’, with J. H. Clynds as Tom Robinson, is knocking 'em at the Pavilion. 1885J. K. Jerome On the Stage 97 There is nothing knocks a country audience like a hornpipe. 1892Chevalier Song, Knocked 'em in the Old Kent Road. 1898A. Bennett Man from North xi. 95 Two guineas the suit, my boy! Won't I knock 'em in the Wal-worth Road! 1910Wodehouse Psmith in City xix. 167 He told him that he had knocked them at the Bedford the week before. 1947K. Tennant Lost Haven vii. 97 The skirt was flared with cunning little tucks at the waist, so that it fitted her like a glove... ‘That ought to knock them,’ Mark's granddaughter said aloud. 1954‘N. Blake’ Whisper in Gloom i. vi. 83 Wasn't she in pantomine?.. Bet she knocked them.
d. To copulate with; also, to make pregnant. So in phr. to knock a child (or an apple) out (of).
1598Florio Worlde of Wordes 94/1 Cunnuta, a woman nocked. 1604Marston Malcontent iii. iii. sig. E2v Haue beate my Shoomaker, knockt my Sempstres, cuckold my Pottecary, and vndone my Taylor. 1785Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Knock, to knock a woman, to have carnal knowledge of her. 1818Keats Let. 5 Jan. (1931) I. 80 They call good Wine a pretty tipple, and call getting a Child knocking out an apple. 1922Joyce Ulysses 401, I cannot but extol the virile potency of the old bucko that could still knock another child out of her. 1936J. Steinbeck In Dubious Battle iv. 45 Sooner or later some girl'd get knocked higher than a kite. 1963T. Parker Unknown Citizen v. 120 You give your missus so much money a week, you knock a few kids out of her, and that's about it, really. 1967D. Pinner Ritual ix. 96 I've knocked some girls in my time but I've never had such a rabbiter as you. The cruder it is, the more you like it.
e. To rob (esp. a safe or till). Underworld slang.
1767Sessions Papers iv. 151/2, I heard him say he got twelve shillings once by knocking the lobb... What is that?.. That is breaking open a place. 1924G. C. Henderson Keys to Crookdom App. B. 397 Blowing a peter. Blowing a safe open with explosives. Also called knocking a peter, blowing a pete, getting a box. 1963Times 25 May 12/2 The appellant had been asked if he had told someone in the ‘Norfolk’ that he got the money by safe breaking. The appellant had replied: ‘Aye but you will never prove that I got it by knocking a safe.’
f. To speak ill or slightingly of, disparage, find fault with, criticize captiously. Also intr. and absol. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
1892‘J. Miller’ Workingman's Paradise 85 Admit it's a business concern and that everybody growls at it, it's the only paper that dares knock things. 1896Ade Artie xii. 106 There's a lot o' people in the ward that's got their hammers out, and they're knockin' him all they can. Ibid. 110 He's got to make good with 'em to keep 'em from knockin. 1901‘H. McHugh’ John Henry 54 I'm not knocking, remember; I'm only saying what I think. I hate a knocker. 1904Sun (N.Y.) 4 Aug. 5 ‘Of course there'll be plenty of cranks to knock this scheme,’ said he. 1906Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 16 Jan. 4/3, I refer to the practice of allowing any kicker in the city to avail himself of newspaper space to knock some public man or some public institution. 1919‘Ian Hay’ Last Million iii. 36 A certain licence is permitted to professional grouchers; but ‘knocking’ the Cause is the one thing that the New Crusaders will not permit. 1926Spectator 3 Apr. 635/2 A reputation for ‘knocking’ is enough to ensure being blackballed from some of the best clubs. 1930Wodehouse Very Good, Jeeves! ii. 44 Where does a valet get off, censoring vases? Does it fall within his province to knock the young master's chinaware? 1958K. Amis I like it Here xvi. 205, I shouldn't like you to get the idea I'm trying to knock Portugal and the Portuguese. 1958Spectator 12 Dec. 865/1 On the last page he protests about ‘the growing tendency in some newspapers today to write only ‘knocking’ stories about stars as big as Tommy’. But..almost any publicity is good publicity: you can knock around the clock and the moon-faced masses will only hear applause. 1970New Scientist 5 Mar. 478/2 They're knocking Concorde again, the cads. 1974Observer 22 Sept. 14/5 It's fashionable nowadays to ‘knock’ England for its shortcomings.
3. to knock on († in) the head (also rarely at head):
a. lit.; esp. to stun or kill by a blow on the head; often loosely, to kill in any summary way, dispatch, put to death.
c1537Thersites in Hazl. Dodsley I. 427, I care not if the old witch were dead: It were an almsdeed to knock her in the head. 1641J. Jackson True Evang. T. ii. 117 S. James..was knockt in the head like an Oxe, or Calfe, after he had been thrown down from a Pinacle of the Temple. 1711Addison Spect. No. 99 ⁋5 The Knight goes off,..seeks all Opportunities of being knock'd on the Head. 1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1756) I. 316, I had better knock the Horse o' th' Head, and dispatch him at once. 1840Barham Ingol. Leg., Grey Dolphin, To lie snoring there when your brethren are being knocked at head.
b. fig. To put an end to, bring to nothing.
1579W. Fulke Heskins' Parl. 327 To knocke his..mallice in the head. 1584R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. viii. iii. (1886) 129 Witchcraft,..is knocked on the head. 1677A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 63 Endeavour to knock all on the head, urging that it will be of great prejudice to the King. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 186 One unlucky action knocked it all on the head. 1852Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 158 We were to have gone to Germany, but that is all knocked on the head.
4. a. trans. To drive or bring (a thing) violently against something else; to strike against or upon something else; to bring into collision.
a1340Hampole Psalter cxxxvi. 12 Blisful he þat shal holde, and knok his smale [paruulos suos] til þe stone. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, iv. i. 54 Ile knock his Leeke about his Pate. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 111 Buffola's..knock Foreheads with a Force adequate to such great Engines.
b. † to knock heads with: to congregate thickly or associate closely with (obs.). to knock one's head against: to strike with one's head; fig. to hurt oneself by coming into collision with resisting facts or conditions; to knock head = to kotow.
1530Palsgr. 599/2, I knocked my heed agaynst the poste. 1615Chapman Odyss. Ep. Ded., Our patrician loves, That knock heads with the herd. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. i. §17 In danger of knocking their heads against the Stars. 1824Byron Juan xv. xci, I always knock my head against some angle About the present, past, or future state. 1837Dickens Pickw. xxxiii, I hear him a-knockin' his head again the lath and plaster now. 1876Grant Hist. India I. xcii. 497/1 The ambassador who refused to ‘knock-head’. Mod. An angular man—always knocking his head against stone walls.
5. a. intr. To come into violent collision with something; to strike, collide, bump, clash.
1530Palsgr. 599/2, I knocke, or hyt agaynst a thing. 1633T. James Voy. 18 Our Ship beating and knocking..fearefully. 1724Bentley Serm. (T.), The atoms..must needs knock and interfere. 1881Standard 19 Dec. 6/3 Olive Branch has been assisted into Harwich very leaky, having knocked over the Knock Sand.
b. Of mechanism: To rattle on account of parts being loose and striking each other. Also, (i) of an internal-combustion engine, to suffer from knock caused by faulty combustion (see knock n.1 1 c). (ii) Of fuel for an internal-combustion engine: to give rise to knock when burnt in an engine.
1869Eng. Mech. 19 Mar. 579/3 There was less ‘knocking’ where a little play..had..begun. 1896R. Kipling Seven Seas 32 They [engines] knock a wee—the crosshead-gibs are loose. 1905Daily Chron. 5 May 3/5 You advance your spark..to the point at which your engine does not knock. 1909Motor Cycling 22 Nov. 32/1 If the engine begins to ‘knock’, a few vigorous thrusts at the pedals should be given immediately. 1916Eighinger & Hutton Steam Traction Engineering v. 156 The main shaft boxes..will often knock. 1925R. J. B. Sellar Sporting Yarns 186, I shall have to pull up, old chap. Cylinder's knocking! 1927Industr. & Engin. Chem. Jan. 145/1 There is at present no satisfactory method of expressing the tendency of a fuel to ‘knock’, or detonate. 1937Wodehouse Lord Emsworth & Others ix. 299, I became aware that the engine was not humming so smoothly. It had begun to knock. 1960V. B. Guthrie Petroleum Products Handbk. iv. 21 Engine designers..have done a great deal to minimize the tendency of engines to knock. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. III. 309/2 Hydrocarbon fuels with compact molecular structures are less likely to knock.
†c. to knock under board, knock under (the) table: to succumb in a drinking-bout; to give in, submit, yield; = knock under, sense 17 below. Obs.
1691–2Gentl. Jrnl. Mar. 10 He that flinches his Glass, and to Drink is not able, Let him quarrel no more, but knock under the Table. 1692South Serm. (1724) VI. 17 For the Government to knock under-board to the Faction. 1700J. Asgill Argument 105, I..knock under table That Satan hath beguiled me to play the Fool with my self. 1703Levellers in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park) V. 447 We will not knock under-board to the men.
d. with adv. or advb. phr.: To stir or move energetically, clumsily, and noisily, or in random fashion, about a place. (See also knock about, around, 7 b, 8). colloq.
a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Knock, to stir or to work briskly. Ex. ‘He came knocking along the road in a great hurry’. 1839W. E. Forster 20 Dec. in T. W. Reid Life v. (1888) 134 A true hearty old Navy Captain,..who has knocked about Africa half his life. 1886G. Allen Maimie's Sake ii, Knocking up and down all over..the country.
6. a. trans. With extension: To drive by striking; to force or send by means of a blow (away, into, out of, off, etc. something, or into or out of some state or condition). See also 7–18. Also fig.
1610Shakes. Temp. iii. ii. 69 Ile yeeld him thee asleepe, Where thou maist knocke a naile into his head. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. 85 Knock the Fuse up to the head within one quarter of an Inch. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. iv, I knocked pieces into the wall of the rock, to hang my guns..up. 1880Trollope Duke's Children xlvii. 272 He was completely ‘bowled over’,—‘knocked off his pins!’
b. Phr. to knock the bottom out of: (fig.) to render invalid, make of no effect, bring to nought. (Cf. ‘It won't hold water’.) colloq. Also (slang) to knock the end in or off: to spoil the whole affair (? obs.).
1875W. McIlwraith Guide to Wigtownshire 93 This explanation knocks the bottom out of a great many theories. 1887R. Churchill in Times (weekly ed.) 24 June 9/3 We shall have knocked the bottom out of Home Rule. 1919Athenæum 8 Aug. 727/2 To ‘knock the end in’ is to spoil the whole show. 1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 138 Knock the end off, to, to spoil anything.
†c. To ‘knock down’ at an auction: see 8 c.
1623Fletcher & Rowley Maid in Mill v. i. Thy maiden⁓head Shall not be worth a chequin, if it were Knock'd at an out-cry.
d. To rouse or summon (a person, esp. from sleep) by knocking at his door. (Usually with extension: see also knock up, 18 f.) colloq.
1706E. Baynard in Sir J. Floyer Hot & Cold Bath. ii. 344, I have been..sometimes knock'd out of Bed, to Children just dying. Mod. He asked to be knocked at seven o'clock.
e. In various slang or colloq. phrases, as to knock into a cocked hat, to knock spots out of, to knock into the middle of next week, etc. Also to knock all of a heap, down with a feather, for a loop, for six; to knock silly, cold, endways, rotten, sideways; to knock the nonsense, etc., out of.
1856C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain i. v. 48 The girlishness and timidity will be knocked out of him by the boys. 1892‘Mark Twain’ Amer. Claimant v. 63 ‘When I came to breakfast Miss Gwendolen—well, she knocked everything out of me, you know—.’ ‘Wonderful girl, wonderful.’ 1931Times Lit. Suppl. 15 Oct. 787/1 The boy returned to Turin, where his royal relatives did their best to get his revolutionary notions knocked out of him. 1935L. & A. Maude tr. Tolstoy's Iván Ilých & Hadji Murád 273 They'd have knocked the nonsense out of you in the army, and he was worth five of such as you at home!
II. In combination with adverbs.
7. knock about.
a. trans. To strike hither and thither by a succession of blows; hence, to treat roughly and without respect.
a1817Jane Austen Persuasion (1818) III. iii. 44 They [sc. sailors] are all knocked about, and exposed to every climate, and every weather, till they are not fit to be seen. 1876Fergusson Ind. & East. Archit. 198 The building..has been so knocked about and altered. 1889C. F. Woolson Jupiter Lights i. 4 Great waves began to toss her and knock her about. 1926T. E. Lawrence Seven Pillars (1935) lxxvi. 424 Young Mustafa refused to cook rice; Farraj and Daud knocked him about until he cried. 1969Listener 24 July 103/2 After being knocked about to an appalling extent in the first week of the war, the Poles were rallying until the Russians came in on the other side.
b. intr. To move about, wander, or roam, in an irregular way; also to lead an irregular life. colloq.
1833Sk. & Eccentr. D. Crockett i. 31 David, collecting his clothes,..began to knock about. 1834W. G. Simms Guy Rivers II. viii. 98 I've been a matter of some fifteen or twenty years knocking about..in one way or another. 1851Mayhew Lond. Labour II. 87 (Farmer) I've been knocking about on the streets. 1855Smedley H. Coverdale i. 3 I've..no dog-cart to knock about in. 1900J. Hutchinson Archives Surg. XI. 267 The man admits that in youth he ‘knocked about a little’. 1929C. Mackenzie Gallipoli Memories iii. 21 He had knocked about all over the Pacific and would have been a splendid companion. 1937M. Sharp Nutmeg Tree xx. 265 You're older, and you've knocked about a bit.
c. to knock the balls about: to strike a (billiard, croquet, etc.) ball idly; to play (such a ball game) in a casual fashion.
1864C. M. Yonge Trial II. vi. 123 Tom..had seen the Andersons knocking about the balls in the new gardens..and proposed to..try to get up a match. 1872Trollope Golden Lion xviii. 305 He knocked the balls about with his cue. 1907F. E. E. Bell At Works vi. 130, I have seen a club with two free tables, where men..have been happily knocking the balls about from 9 a.m. onwards. 1916A. Bennett These Twain ii. xiv. 271 ‘Shall we knock the balls about a bit?’ They began a mild game of croquet.
d. To lie around, to be available or in the vicinity; to impend.
1866F. Hunt 25 Yrs. Experience N.Z. ix. 45 My carpet bag I left knocking about amongst them with utmost carelessness. 1870R. P. Whitworth Martin's Bay Settlement 23/1, I have commenced to make a dingy..out of old boards that are knocking about. 1889G. B. Shaw London Music 1888–89 (1937) 116 There is plenty of musical talent knocking about misused or misdirected. 1897P. A. Philips Memories of Past 21 When we did have them they were pretty severe [fires], such as..W. S. Grahame's in Fort Street (any amount of drink knocking about), the fire in High Street. 1902Conrad Typhoon ii. 22 Observing the steady fall of the barometer, Captain MacWhirr thought, ‘There's some dirty weather knocking about.’ 1908W. H. Koebel Anchorage ii. 45 Do you know of a billet knockin' about anywhere that 'ud suit him, boss? 1916A. Bennett These Twain i. v. 60 ‘There are one or two ordinaries knocking about the place,’ said Edwin, ‘but we haven't got a proper bicycle-house.’ 1939[see eye n.1 3 b]. 1948R. Finlayson Tidal Creek i. 17 I'll just see about a box that ought to be knocking about.
e. to knock about with: to be a habitual companion of.
1915T. Burke Nights in Town 323 We talked of Love, Wines, Dinners, Music-halls, of the men we had knocked about with, the girls we had loved. 1924M. Kennedy Constant Nymph viii. 122 Look at the sort of people the poor child has knocked about with.
8. knock around, round = knock about (sense 7 b). Also fig.
1848W. T. Thompson Major Jones's Sk. Travel 8 I'm gwine..to New York,..and Boston and all about thar, and spend the summer until pickin time, nockin round in them big cities, mong them peeple what's so monstrous smart. 1856C. E. Delong in Calif. Hist. Soc. Q. (1930) IX. 65 Got up late knocked around. 1874V. Pyke Adventures G. W. Pratt (1890) i. vi. 27 Seems that there's a joke knocking around somewhere. 1884Marcus Clarke Memor. Vol. 88, I thought it advisable to ‘knock round’ in search of him. 1924C. Mackenzie Heavenly Ladder iii. 55 Not that I'm against your style of services myself. But most of the people round here haven't knocked around like I have. 1938G. Greene 19 Stories (1947) 76 He's knocking around somewhere. 1959P. McCutchan Storm South xiii. 198 Mrs. van Neyland's been a married woman, and she's knocked around.
9. knock back.
a. trans. To refuse, to rebuff. Austral. and N.Z. colloq.
1930V. Palmer in Bulletin (Sydney) 19 Feb. 51/1 Not the sort of man we want... I knocked him back. 1939K. Tennant Foveaux iv. ii. 368 Why, she knocks back the boss where she works, if he gets gay. 1944L. Glassop We were Rats xviii. 104 Still goin' to keep knockin' back the sheilas? 1948V. Palmer Golconda xi. 85 Most of them knocked his appeals back lightly and watched the proceedings with tolerant amusement. 1952J. Cleary Sundowners ii. 108 He wouldn't knock it [sc. money] back if you offered it to him. 1957‘N. Culotta’ They're a Weird Mob (1958) vi. 86 Never knock back O.P's [sc. other people's smokes]. 1969Private Eye 12 Sept. 14 (caption) Knocking back a free night at the flea-pit too. 1973Nation Rev. (Melbourne) 24–30 Aug. 1398/6 Never knock back a dollar, I guess.
b. trans. To drink (esp. intoxicants) or eat heartily or heavily; to swallow a drink at a gulp. Also in phr. to knock it back. colloq.
1931Brophy & Partridge Songs & Slang 1914–18 (ed. 3) 326 Knock it back.—To eat; sometimes, to drink. 1939Eastbourne Herald 6 May 13/2 Thirsty Eastbourne really does ‘knock back’ thousands of gallons in the course of a year. 1947‘A. P. Gaskell’ Big Game 8 ‘Boy oh boy oh boy,’ he chanted, ‘won't I knock back those handles tonight.’ 1951J. B. Priestley Festival at Farbridge iii. ii. 476 That's why he knocked a few back—and he doesn't as a rule. 1951‘J. Wyndham’ Day of Triffids i. 26, I knocked back the last of my brandy, and went out. 1953X. Fielding Stronghold iii. iv. 221, I hear you knock it back a bit. Well, so do I. 1957C. MacInnes City of Spades i. ix. 69 My two friends knocked back their gins. 1957‘N. Culotta’ They're a Weird Mob (1958) iii. 42 ‘What is this pin one on, Joe?’ ‘Knock one back. Gunna 'ave a drink?’ 1961M. Kelly Spoilt Kill ii. 71 When you were fourteen you knocked back a whole jar..at one sitting. 1968M. Richler in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories 2nd Ser. 194 Hod was knocking back large snifters of brandy.
c. trans. To retard, to check. Austral. and N.Z.
1945J. Pascoe in N.Z. Geographer I. 27 An early winter will knock his flock back. 1946F. Sargeson That Summer 85 The two sprees had knocked me back considerably [financially].
10. knock down.
a. trans. To strike or fell to the ground with a blow or blows; fig. to overcome, vanquish, cause to succumb. Also, to bring down by a shot, or by artillery, etc., fire.
c1450tr. De Imitatione iii. xxxix. 110 Brynge to nouȝt folkes, þat wol haue bateiles. Knocke hem doun in þy miȝt. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. vi. 9 Knocke him downe there. 1659D. Pell Impr. Sea 479 Cut down Hammoks, knock down wooden stanchions. 1733W. Byrd Journey Land of Eden in Writings (1901) 311 We pursued our Journey thro' uneven and perplexed Woods, and in the thickest of them had the Fortune to knock down a young Buffalo, 2 Years old. 1787Wolcott (P. Pindar) Ode upon Ode Wks. 1812 I. 443, I would rather be knocked down By weight of argument, than weight of Fist. 1809M. L. Weems Life F. Marion xi. 98 Many a family goes without dinner unless the father can knock down a squirrel in the woods. 1893W. Forbes-Mitchell Remin. Gt. Mutiny 261 Mackie, who had been knocked down by the sun the day before and had died that afternoon. 1940War Illustr. 12 Apr. 366/3 But before the Germans had managed to recover from their surprise that only three British 'planes dared to attack them, the young flight leader had knocked down two of them.
b. To drive (a stake, etc.) into the ground by blows; to fasten (a rivet) by knocking the end flat.
1657Austen Fruit Trees i. 64 If the plants are in danger to be shaken by the winds, then knock down a stake close to every one. 1869E. J. Reed Shipbuild. xvii. 329 The various modes of forming the rivet-point, or, in technical language, of ‘knocking-down’ the rivet.
c. To dispose of (an article) to a bidder at an auction sale by a knock with a hammer or mallet.
1760C. Johnston Chrysal (1822) III. 205 It was..knocked down to the last bidder. 1777Sheridan Sch. Scand. iv. i, This shall be your hammer, and now you may knock down my ancestors. 1884Illustr. Lond. News 20 Dec. 603/1 The first Aldine Horace, of 1501..was knocked down for fifteen guineas.
d. To call upon, nominate (for some function, etc.); from the chairman at a dinner, etc., doing this with the knock of a hammer or mallet. colloq.
1759Goldsm. Ess., Clubs Wks. (Globe) 284/2 The Grand..had knocked down Mr. Spriggins for a song. 1789G. Parker Variegated Char. (Farmer), He was knocked down for the crap [gallows] the last sessions. 1842S. Lover Handy Andy v, The call is with you, Ned,..knock some one down for a song.
e. To summon (a person) downstairs by knocking at his door. (Cf. knock up, 18 f.) rare.
1881Athenæum 3 Sept 303/2 At an early hour..the farmer's wife said to her son, ‘Thomas, go and knock your father down’.
f. To disconnect the parts of (a structure that is ‘knocked together’: see 16 c) by blows; to take to pieces. Cf. knock-down a. 3, knocked-down s.v. knocked ppl. a. 2. (The opposite of knock up, 18 d.)
1776[see knocked ppl. a. 1]. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1239/2 A chair complete and box to hold a dozen knocked down. 1945B. MacDonald Egg & I (1946) xix. 194 The six-hundred-gallon water tank arrived, knocked down and looking disappointingly like a bundle of faggots. 1958Times Rev. Industry Dec. 65/3 Motor-car body shells..knocked down for export. 1973Amer. Speech 1969 XLIV. 206 Knock down, disassemble freight or merchandise.
g. To lower effectively in amount or degree. colloq.
1867Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. Ser. ii. III. ii. 533 A very plentiful season has knocked down prices. 1895Times 27 Apr. 12/2 When the picture leaves the exhibition, whether it would not be well to ‘knock down’, as they say, those somewhat too brilliant tones.
h. Austral. and N.Z. slang. To spend in drink or riot. Hence knocking down vbl. n.
1852in Occasional Papers Univ. Sydney Austral. Lang. Res. Centre (1966) No. 9. 15 They then go ‘upon the burst’ as they call it, and drink until all their earnings are ‘knocked down’. 1861H. W. Harper Lett. from N.Z. (1914) 65 [Station hands] proceed to ‘knock down their cheque’, giving it to the landlord and bidding him treat all comers as long as it lasts. 1866Bk. Canterbury Rhymes 19, I knock my earnings down [at the Royal Hotel]. 1869Marcus Clarke Peripat. Philos. (reprint) 80 (Morris) Knocked down thirteen notes, and went to bed as tight as a fly. 1874A. Bathgate Colonial Experiences xi. 142 He would get amongst a bad lot and knock down every penny of our hard-earned cash. 1879J. Grey His Island Home iii. 32/1 They were ‘knocking down’ their cheques and living at the rate of ten thousand a year. Ibid., They appear to derive intense satisfaction from the knocking down process until their resources were exhausted. 1884Boldrewood Melb. Memories xiii. 99 They could earn money, and..proceeded to ‘knock down’ the same by means of..alcoholic indulgence. 1884Marcus Clarke Memor. Vol. 135 At shearing time, when the ‘hands’ knocked down their cheques. 1904M. Cradock Sport in N.Z. i. i. 10 Their rabbit cheques generally find their way to the nearest public house, to be ‘knocked down’ as soon as received. 1965J. S. Gunn Terminol. Shearing Industry 1 Knock down, to spend a cheque, usually in one quick celebration.
i. U.S. slang. To appropriate or embezzle (esp. passengers' fares).
a1854J. F. Kelley Humors of Falconbridge (1856) 86 No knocking down, sir! 1864T. L. Nichols 40 Yrs. Amer. Life I. 89 The omnibus-drivers were expected to ‘knock down’ a certain proportion of the receipts. 1872J. D. McCabe Lights & Shadows N.Y. Life xi. 214 In order to make up the deficiency between their actual wages and their necessities, the conductors and drivers have fallen into the habit of appropriating a part of the money received from passengers to their own use... This practice of ‘knocking down’, or appropriating money, begins with the conductor, as he alone receives the money paid for fares. 1882McCabe New York 158 The driver of a stage was furnished with a cash-box,..he had frequent opportunities of ‘knocking down’, or appropriating a modest sum to his own use. 1888Boston Jrnl. 31 Oct. 2/4 The street car conductors..have been ‘knocking down’ from $100 to $200 a day, and several have been arrested. 1892Balestier Average Woman, He's knocking down fares every day. 1949‘J. Evans’ Halo in Brass xx. 172 Some..clerk who was knocking down on the till.
j. intr. To deal a knock or blow downwards (e.g. on the floor, to arouse a person below).
1724R. Wodrow Life Prof. Wodrow (1828) 166 He had given a groan, and the person in waiting knocked down. When I came up, I observed his lips quivering.
k. pass. Of a ship (see quots. 1891 and 1948). U.S.
1873G. H. Procter Fisherman's Memorial 128 A severe gale, which knocked the vessel down and nearly swamped her. 1891H. Patterson Illustr. Naut. Dict. 104 Knocked down, said of a vessel when, by the force of the wind acting upon her sails and spars, she is careened to such an extent that she does not recover herself. 1948R. de Kerchove Internat. Maritime Dict. 387/1 Knocked-down, the situation of a vessel listed over by wind to such an extent that it does not recover.
l. To earn, get paid. U.S.
1929M. Lief Hangover vi. 100 She and Humphrey rented a cottage in Westport..where authors who knocked down $3,000 for knocking out a short story of 5,000 words, built such magnificent houses. 1949New Yorker 5 Nov. 76/2 You wanna know hommuch that animal knocks down a week?
11. knock in.
a. trans. To drive or force in by blows or as by blows.
1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. 87 Put down a piece of Paste-board, and knock it in hard. 1891T. Hardy in Harper's Mag. Apr. 704 They knocked in the victuals and drink till they could hold no more.
b. intr. (Univ. slang.) To knock so as to gain admission to college after the gate is closed.
1825C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 155 Close the oak, Jem, and take care no one knocks in before [etc.]. 1829J. R. Best Pers. & Lit. Mem. 103 Mr. Langton, you knock in very often: why do you visit so much out of college? 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. xli, There's twelve striking, I must knock in.
12. knock off.
a. trans. To strike off by or as by a blow; also fig. to knock off a person's head, to ‘beat’ or surpass him.
1611Shakes. Cymb. v. iv. 199 Knocke off his Manacles. 1666Boyle Orig. Formes & Qualities, If a parcel of Matter be knockt off from another. 1719Young Busiris ii. i. (1757) 35 'Till death shall knock them [chains] off. 1862Cornh. Mag. June 655, I could knock his head off in Greek Iambics.
b. To cause to desist or leave off from work; to discharge or dismiss from employment, to ‘lay off’.
1651Gataker in Fuller's Abel Rediv., Ridley (1867) I. 230 He returned..to his study, where he sat, unless suitors or some other affairs knocked him off. 1881A. Bathgate Waitaruna xii. 172 [The boss] would growl at the offending shearer and make use of some vague threat of ‘knocking him off’. 1889Times (weekly ed.) 13 Dec. 3/2 The men were knocked off earlier. 1896‘M. Rutherford’ Clara Hopgood xxvi. 256 As reg'lar as winter comes Longwood is knocked off—no work. 1955Times 9 June 8/3 The Cunard company put the main restaurant at his service and the staff captain ‘knocked off all the men from their duties’.
c. intr. To desist, leave off; to cease from one's work or occupation; slang to die.
1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, ccxliii, The Sun (who quafft French blood, to Harrie's health) knock's of And can noe more. 1688Bunyan Heavenly Footman (1886) 159 If thou do not..knock off from following any farther. a1704Let. in T. Brown's Wks. (1760) IV. 183 Perverse people..that would not knock off in any reasonable time, but liv'd long, on purpose to spite their relations. 1842Spirit of Times 4 June 158/2 My tackle being very light I had to humor him, and 'twas full half an hour before I killed him. Knocked off, and set Joe to work to boil rock [i.e. fish]. 1851H. Melville Moby Dick II. xii. 95 Do you want to sink the ship, by knocking off at a time like this? 1890Clark Russell Ocean Trag. III. xxix. 110 We were forced to knock off through sheer fatigue. 1916‘Boyd Cable’ Doing their Bit iii. 49 The factory was knocking off for dinner as we came away. 1969M. Crouch Essex ii. 28 One who has just knocked off for his tea-break.
d. trans. To stop, discontinue, give up (work).
1767‘A. Barton’ Disappointment i. i. 10 As for McSnip, he intends to knock off business, home to England and purchase a title. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxiii. 71 After we had knocked off work and cleared up decks for the night. 1884Clark Russell Jack's Courtship xvii, I heard that you had knocked off the sea some years ago. 1885R. Buchanan Matt. viii, He at once knocked off painting for the day.
e. To dispatch, dispose of, put out of hand, accomplish; to complete or do hastily; spec. to write, paint, etc., in a hurried and perfunctory fashion. colloq.
1817Peacock Melincourt III. 68 He had..to dispose of..a christening, a marriage, and a funeral; but he would knock them off as fast as he could. 1820J. W. Croker Let. in Smiles Mem. J. Murray (1891) II. xxiii. 87, I am anxious to knock off this task whilst..it is fresh in my recollection. 1879F. W. Robinson Coward Conscience i. xiii, If you have any business..with me, the sooner we knock it off the better. 1886in Amer. Speech (1950) XXV. 35/1 When he knocked off a few stanzas of poetry. 1925R. Fry Let. 11 Nov. (1972) II. 584 Derain..lets 'em [sc. dealers] have any old thing, or rather, what's much worse, any new thing which he's knocked off. 1970W. Garner Puppet-Masters xv. 124 Look, you could knock off a few hundred words on Baxx without so much as scratching the surface of your magnum opus.
f. To strike off, deduct from an amount or sum.
1811Jane Austen Let. 6 June (1952) 288 As you knock off a week from the end of her visit, & Martha rather more from the beginning, the thing is out of the question. a1817― Persuasion (1818) III. ii. 26 Every comfort of life knocked off! Journeys, London, servants, horses, table. 1858Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XIX. ii. 305 The saltpetre diminished the yield 5 bushels..and the salt..also knocked off 3 bushels. 1869Bradshaw's Railway Manual XXI. 384 A great deal is knocked off from our claim against the Grand Trunk. 1889Jessopp Coming of Friars v. 244 The steward graciously knocked off seventy-five per cent. 1892Sir W. Grantham in Law Times XCIV. 63/2 Most of the plaintiff's bill was passed by the Taxing Master, and only {pstlg}63 knocked off. 1926J. Buchan Dancing Floor i. i. 11 First string of the 'Varsity mile. Believed..to be going to knock five seconds off his last year's time. 1966Melody Maker 15 Oct. 19 (Advt.), Quality instruments at knocked-off prices. 1972Daily Tel. 30 Mar. 19/2 The gloomy assessment..knocked 12p off ICI's share price in London.
g. Cricket. Of batsmen, to score the runs requisite for victory, or to oblige (a bowler) to be taken off by scoring heavily from his bowling.
1851J. Pycroft Cricket Field ii. 30 If in the field..and trying hard to prevent these few runs being knocked off by the last wickets, I know of no excitement so intense. 1860Baily's Monthly Mag. Mar. 34 These two gentlemen scored 123 runs between them, knocking off Caffyn, Jackson, Parr, [etc.]. 1963A. Ross Australia 63 18 Pullar and Cowdrey knocked off the 49 required to win without actually being separated.
h. [imp. use of 12 c.] knock it off!: leave off! stop it!
1902N.Z. Illustr. Mag. V. 488 Knock it off, boys. 1945D. Dempsey It ain't Brooklyn in Best One-Act Plays 1944 28 Will you knock it off, please? 1961J. Heller Catch-22 (1962) xxvii. 294 ‘Hey, knock it off down there,’ a voice rang out from the far end of the ward. ‘Can't you see we're trying to nap?’
i. slang. To steal, to rob. Also transf.
1919Athenæum 8 Aug. 729/1 A curious term used by a Tommy, in ‘explaining’ his deficiencies of kit, is ‘Someone knocked it off’ for ‘Someone pinched (or made away with) it’. 1925E. Wallace Mind of Mr. J. G. Reeder vi. 224 A big-shouldered man whose speciality was the ‘knocking-off’ of unattended motor-cars. 1938F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad i. 14 They learn to ‘knock things off’. 1956C. Willock Death at Flight iv. 42 Mr. Goss had shown himself willing to knock off a pheasant himself. 1959New Statesman 26 Sept. 404/2 After quietly knocking off a couple of retail shoe chains at the end of 1958, he entered the public takeover lists and won control of a Connoisseur's gobbet—Temperance Billiard Halls. 1960Observer 24 Jan. 5/2 The boys either knocked off a hut where they knew gelly was kept or straightened a quarry man. 1963J. Prescot Case for Hearing i. 16 Always dropping in on me..with search-warrants..and turning over that place of mine as if they expected to find some knocked-off gear there. 1969Sunday Truth (Brisbane) 20 July 30/5 Only a few weeks after he finished up at St. Laurence's Christian Brothers College, Luzzcek knocked the place off. 1973A. Hunter Gently French iii. 24 Just met a bloke..in the nick... Him what was in there for knocking-off cars.
j. slang (orig. U.S.). To kill; to murder.
1919E. Streeter Same Old Bill 28 Im goin to rite just as much as I can. Thats partly sos you wont worry an partly so that if I get knocked off you will have something to amuse you in case you go into a convent. 1929Papers Mich. Acad. Sci., Arts & Lett. X. 304 Knocked off, killed. 1942E. Paul Narrow St. xxiv. 217 Hitler..ordered the blood purge which knocked off Roehm, Von Schleicher, and others among his former pals. 1943P. Cheyney You can always Duck iv. 75 A United States Army officer was knocked off in a joint of his off Mount Street. 1948Partridge Dict. Forces' Slang 107 Knock off, to kill. 1959H. Hobson Mission House Murder xxii. 145 One of my boys..got knocked off— an' nobody does a damn' thing about who knocked him off. 1973C. Mullard Black Britain i. ii. 24 In one village a white launched a murder campaign because ‘he liked knocking off blacks’.
k. Underworld slang. To arrest (a person); to raid (an establishment).
1926F. D. Wilkinson in Flynn's 6 Feb. 58/1 ‘Willie of Detroit is here and is knocking everybody off.’ (Meaning, arresting them.) 1930Amer. Mercury Dec. 456/2 Knock off, to raid; to arrest. ‘The feds knock off the scatter.’ 1930G. Smithson Raffles in Real Life xix. 256 About ten days or so after being ‘knocked off’..the Chief Warder came to my cell. 1939‘D. Hume’ Heads you Live ii. 24 You..acted as a so-called hostess at the Angel Club in Dean Street for a year before it was knocked off. 1960J. Stroud Shorn Lamb iii. 33 There was two other boys wiv Egg when you knocked him off, why ain't they 'ere? 1969R. V. Beste Next Time I'll Pay xi. 157 You're the sort who'd knock off his mother because she hadn't got a lamp on her bike five minutes after lighting up time.
l. slang. To copulate with, to seduce (a woman).
1952S. Kauffmann Philanderer (1953) viii. 134 Hell, she isn't much,..but she's all there is around here. And if you don't want her, I don't mind knocking her off. 1965A. Prior Interrogators v. 69 Do you think that young twit Wilkinson is knocking her off? 1970G. Greer Female Eunuch 265 The vocabulary of impersonal sex is peculiarly desolating. Who wants to..‘knock off a bit? of belly? of crumpet?’ 1974Times Lit. Suppl. 11 Oct. 1109/4 Knocking off his best friend's busty wife during boozy sprees on leave in Soho.
13. knock on. trans. To drive on or forward by a blow (also fig.); spec. in Rugby Football: To propel (the ball) with hand or arm in the direction of the adversary's goal (thereby committing an infringement of the rules); also absol.
1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. xxi. 353 Loving Subjects..being more kindly united to their Sovereigne then those which are onely knock'd on with fear and forcing. 1660Milton Free Commw. Wks. (1851) 442 Shackles lock'd on by pretended Law of Subjection, more intolerable..than those which are knock'd on by illegal Injury and Violence. 1894Daily News 7 Sept. 5/1 If a full back ‘knocked on’ when a try was otherwise inevitable. 1900Westm. Gaz. 12 Dec. 7/3 Hind spoiled a chance of scoring by knocking-on a pass from Jones.
14. knock out.
a. trans. To strike or dash out by a blow; to stun or kill by a blow.
1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iii. i. 83 Many haue their giddy braynes knockt out. 1727Gay Beggar's Op. i. x. (1729) 14, I shall knock your brains out if you have any. 1887I. R. Lady's Ranche Life Montana 102 Knocking the ashes out of his pipe. 1903Sun (N.Y.) 2 Dec. 1 Scott's reputation is excellent, and the managers fear that he has been knocked out and robbed. a1918W. Owen Coll. Poems (1963) 7 Ye get knocked out; else wounded—bad or cushy; Scuppered; or nowt except yer feelin' mushy.
†b. To stop or drown the voice of (a speaker) by making a knocking noise. Obs.
1574in Peacock Obs. Stat. Camb. App. p. vi, If the Father shall upon his Chyldrens Aunswer replie and make an Argument, then the Bedel shall knocke hym out.
c. (See quots., and knock-out a. and n.)
1876W. Green Life Cheap Jack 203 The concern would..be ‘knocked out’ at once, that is resold by auction among themselves and the profit divided. 1896Farmer Slang, Knock-out, a man frequenting auction rooms and joining with others to buy at a nominal price. One of the gang is told off to buy for the rest... At the end of the sale the goods are taken to a near hand public-house, where they are resold or knocked-out among the confederates.
d. fig. To drive out of the contest; to vanquish, exhaust. to knock out of time (Pugilistic), to disable an opponent so that he is unable to respond to the call of ‘Time’; also in extended use.
1874Trollope Phineas Redux II. xxviii. 228 You'll come all right after a few weeks. You've been knocked out of time;—that's the truth of it. 1883Pall Mall G. 16 Apr. 4/1 (Farmer) Foxhall..was second favourite for some time, but he has now been knocked out to comparatively long odds. 1884Sat. Rev. 16 Jan. 108/1 A man of weak physique..knocked out of time by a more robust..adversary. 1888Pall Mall G. 20 Apr. 11/2 The light-weight champion ‘knocked out’ his two first opponents. 1890W. A. Wallace Only a Sister? 95 They call it..‘knocked out of time’, when a fellow doesn't come to at once. 1891Young Man Apr. 140/2 A [bicycle] ride of ten miles within the hour may mean comfort and the capability of doing another twenty easily; a ride of eleven miles in the hour may just mean knocking a man out of time. 1894Daily News 26 Feb. 5/1 Two years ago Aston Villa [football club] knocked out Sunderland. 1900Ibid. 21 Apr. 7/3 You have to have your horses fit, otherwise you knock them out. 1970Brewer's Dict. Phr. & Fable (ed. 12) 613/2 To knock out of time, to settle one's hash, to double him up.
e. To make roughly or hastily. (Cf. 12 e.) colloq.
1856Dickens Lett. (1880) I. 422 We may knock out a series of descriptions..without much trouble. 1881T. Hardy Laodicean iii. v. (1882) 185, I wish..you could knock out something for her before you leave town.
f. intr. (Univ. slang.) To gain exit from a college by knocking at the gate after it has been shut.
1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. xlv. (1864) 503 ‘Hullo!’ he said, getting up; ‘time for me to knock out’. 1862H. Kingsley Ravenshoe vii. I. 82 Five out-college men had knocked out at a quarter to three.
g. ‘To lose the scent: said of hounds in fox-hunting’ (Cent. Dict.).
h. trans. To earn. Austral., N.Z., and U.S. slang.
[1871C. L. Money Knocking about in N.Z. ii. 18 They knocked out in this day as much gold as sufficed to make them afterwards two rings.] 1873V. Pyke Story Wild Will Enderby (ed. 4) i. xiv. 62 Two industrious young men who worked very hard for a bare living—‘just knocking out tucker’, as the phrase went. 1874― Adventures G. W. Pratt 12/2, I can knock out tucker enough for the pair of us. 1920Sat. Even. Post 27 Mar. 3/2 At that I was knocking out about eighteen hundred dollars per annum selling cigars out of South Bend. 1959Baker Drum (1960) ii. 123 Knock out, to earn (a sum of money).
i. trans. To eliminate, remove forcibly, get rid of, destroy. orig. U.S.
1883‘Mark Twain’ Life on Mississippi 465 The religious feature has been pretty well knocked out of it [i.e., Mardi-Gras at New Orleans]. 1889Kansas City (Missouri) Times & Star 17 May, By a vote of 11 to 9 the Missouri senate knocked out the legislative reduction of tolls here by the Bell Telephone Company. 1904Sun (N.Y.) 5 Aug. 4 In power, the Democrats wouldn't knock out protection if they could. 1927J. N. McIlwraith Kinsmen at War xvii. 170, I will have to knock that idea out of Lucy's head too, straightway. 1933F. Baldwin Innocent Bystander (1935) ii. 30, I got a good deal of it knocked out of me. 1944Return to Attack (Army Board, N.Z.) 15/1 In the Bir el Gubi area the 22nd Armoured Brigade..knocked out forty-five enemy tanks. 1955Times 28 June 4/4 It is now believed that even if all the major ports of the United Kingdom were knocked out by atomic attack sufficient food for the population could still be passed through minor ports. 1971Daily Tel. 17 Dec. 1 India claimed to have knocked out forty tanks in a major battle on the Kashmir front.
j. trans. (Founding.) To separate (a flask) from a casting contained inside it, or (a casting) from a flask containing it.
1906Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. LXX. 174 The castings were all made in green sand, and were allowed to cool before being ‘knocked out’, i.e. taken from the sand. 1942Engineering 6 Mar. 195/2 One difficulty was to get cool sand after the castings had been knocked out. 1955H. E. Crivan in W. C. Newell Casting of Steel vi. 227 Heavier, dry sand work can be knocked out over a grid using hammers to loosen the sand.
k. to knock oneself out: to make a considerable effort, to apply oneself energetically (to the point of exhaustion).
1936Mademoiselle Mar. 43/2 All the fancier lassies..are practically knocking themselves out in an effort to get to Hollywood. 1951Green & Laurie Show Biz p. xxi, They like ‘knocking themselves out’ for Variety.
l. To give (a person) enjoyment, to excite. Often refl. and in pass. slang (orig. U.S.).
1942Amer. Mercury July 95 Knock yourself out: have a good time. 1944New Yorker 8 July 27/1 There are times when Duke laughs naturally and exuberantly; for example, when the boys..are competing to see who can whistle the lowest note. ‘I knock myself out,’ he says. 1947Band Leaders & Record Rev. Feb. 20 ‘When I heard it,’ Ella Mae says, ‘it knocked me out.’ 1953D. Wallop Night Light xix. 236 It's pretty hard to be knocked out with a baby when you know its old man is bored with the whole idea. 1956B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) ii. 26, I used to make them crazy dishes... This used to knock him out. When my time was running out, he made me an offer to stay on and cook for him. 1957J. Kerouac On Road (1958) iii. iv. 202 A man who knocked himself out every evening and let the others put the quietus to him in the night. 1966Melody Maker 7 May, I only heard half an hour of Ornette but I wasn't knocked out at all.
15. knock over.
a. trans. To overthrow by, or as if by, a blow; to prostrate. Also fig.
1814S. Pegge Anecd. Eng. Lang., Suppl. Grose's Prov. Gloss. 384 To Knock a man over, to knock him down. North. 1852Dickens Bleak Ho. (1853) xxix. 285 Such a resemblance..that it completely knocked me over. 1855Russell War in Crimea xxiv. 167 The ‘Sampson’ pitched shell after shell right in among the tents, knocking them over right and left. 1857Lady Canning in Hare 2 Noble Lives (1893) II. 343 Sunstroke..knocks them over quite suddenly. 1882W. D. Hay Brighter Britain! I. vii. 184 If a single bushman could not have knocked that tree over before dinner time, he would not have been worth wages. 1893F. C. Selous S.E. Africa 69 That evening two of my Kafirs..were knocked over with fever.
b. intr. To succumb; to die. colloq. or slang.
1892Stevenson in Illustr. Lond. News 9 July 42/1 Captain Randall knocked over with some kind of a fit or stroke.
c. trans. In warp knitting: to cause (a stitch) to pass over the head of the needle on which it was held.
a1877Knight Dict. Mech. II. 1238/1 Knocking-over bar, the bar against which the loops and fabric are drawn as the needles retreat, so that the loops shall be thrown or knocked over the heads of the needles. 1885W. T. Rowlett tr. Willkomm's Technol. Framework Knitting II. iii. 145 These sinkers..must move up and down, and backwards and forwards, so as to sink the thread into loops, bring them forward under the needle beards, land and knock over the old stitches, and..lock in the new stitches, and take them to the back of the needles. 1952D. F. Paling Warp Knitting Technol. i. 6 The presser is now withdrawn and the needle bar continues its downward motion, thus causing the fabric loops to pass further up the needle beards until finally they are knocked-over the needle heads as the latter pass below the level of the sinkers. 1964H. Wignall Knitting ii. 28 The old loop is now cast-off or knocked over.
d. trans. (Underworld slang.) To rob (a person), to burgle (a building); to steal (from).
1928Detective Fiction Weekly 7 June 52/2, I just got knocked over for that wad we jest lifted... My pocket was picked... I was tapped, touched, if that's any plainer. 1932Ibid. 6 Feb. 129/2, I ain't knocked nothin' over for some little time now. 1937C. R. Cooper Here's to Crime iv. 89 There's the real fun of bank-robbing—running the roads. Old Harve used to love it. I've seen him run roads when he had no intention of ever knocking over a can. 1940Illustr. London News 26 Oct. 548/2 The job looks easy enough—a big hotel at Tropico Springs that any fool could ‘knock over’. 1941K. Tennant Battlers i. 9 Life ‘on the track’ was not so bad, with good places to camp and ‘cockies’ sheep to knock over.
16. knock together.
a. trans. To drive or bring into collision or contact.
1398[see knocking vbl. n. 1 b]. 1598Shakes. Merry W. iii. i. 122 Let us knog our praines together to be reuenge on..the Host of the Garter. 1609Bible (Douay) Jer. li. 20 Thou doest knocke together the vessels of warre.
b. intr. To come into collision.
1641J. Jackson True Evang. T. iii. 209 Two pots floting upon a pond,..with this word, If we knock together, we sink together. a1609A. Halkett Autobiog. (1875) 44 Our heads knockt together.
c. trans. To put together, or construct, hastily, rudely, as for a temporary purpose.
1874Farrar Christ (1894) 612 It [the Cross] would..be..knocked together in the rudest fashion. 1893K. L. Bates Eng. Relig. Drama 226 A temporary stage has been roughly knocked together.
17. knock under. intr. Short for knock under board, 5 c. To acknowledge oneself beaten; to give in, yield, submit, ‘knuckle under’.
1670Merry Drollery ii. Capt. Hick 288 He..Made the wits at the board to knock under. 1684–94tr. Plutarch's Mor. III. 219 (L.) He knocked under presently, and a single glass dozed him. 1728F. Burney Diary 10 Nov., Is not this a triumph for me..? Pray let my daddy Crisp hear it, and knock under. 1852Thackeray Esmond iii. i, When he heard this news..Colonel Esmond knocked under to his fate, and resolved to surrender his sword. 1887Rider Haggard Jess xxvii, Our government is not going to knock under because it has suffered a few reverses.
18. knock up.
a. trans. To drive upwards, or fasten up, by knocking; spec. in Bookbinding, etc. to make even the edges of (a pile of loose sheets) by striking them on a table; in Bootmaking, to cut or flatten the edges of the upper after its attachment to the insole.
1660Pepys Diary 30 Jan., Knocking up nails for my hat and cloakes. 1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xxv. ⁋3 Having thus Gathered one Book, he Knocks it up. Ibid. p. 382 Knock up a Letter..a Letter may be worn so low that it will not Print well..The Workman then..beats lightly upon the Foot of the Shank, till he have battered Mettle enough out of the Shank, to raise it higher against Paper. 1888Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 71 Knock up, to make the edges of a heap of paper straight and square by knocking up to one edge. 1905Westm. Gaz. 30 Oct. 7/3 A mechanical device for trimming off the surplus material from the lasted boot before it is ‘knocked up’, and a machine for the ‘knocking-up’ process itself, the latter guaranteed to ‘knock-up’ between 400 and 500 pairs of boots per week.
b. intr. To be driven up so as to strike something. to knock up against, to come into collision with; fig. to meet with, come across, encounter.
1887A. Birrell Obiter Dicta Ser. ii. 264 When Montaigne was in Rome..he complained bitterly that he was always knocking up against his own countrymen. 1895Times (weekly ed.) 27 Dec. 1034/3 One can't remember all the people one knocks up against in one's holiday-making. 1898Daily News 24 Nov. 7/2 The smack eventually knocked up high on the shore under the cliffs.
c. trans. To make up (hastily or off-hand), to arrange summarily.
c1580J. Jeffere Bugbears i. iii. 30 We wile knocke vp this maryage. 1812Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 138 A match was knocked up betwixt Dogherty..and a man named Burn. 1852H. Rogers Ecl. Faith (1853) 167 This gentleman, with whom Harrington..has knocked up an acquaintance. 1872F. W. Robinson Coward Conscience i. viii, Why didn't they knock up a match between you and Ursula?
d. To put together hastily; = 16 c. Also, to prepare (food) quickly (U.S.).
1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xxiv. ⁋10 The Balls are well Knockt up, when the Wooll is equally dispersed about all the Sides. 1812L. Hunt in Examiner 12 Oct. 642/2 The carpenters that knock up our hustings. 1850Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XI. i. 271 A range of farm buildings can be roughly knocked up. 1869L. M. Alcott Little Women II. v. 61 Don't cry, dear, but just exert yourself a bit, and knock us up something to eat. 1890Harper's Mag. May 894/2, I jest killed a chicken, and knocked up a few biscuit. 1931H. Nicolson Diary 14 Aug. (1966) 87 He has got out several tenders for printing... He and Joseph have..knocked up a dummy lay-out. 1967Official Jrnl. Patents, Trade Marks & Designs (Austral.) XXXVII. 1538/2 Plumbing means can be purchased ready made by factories whereas they once might have to be ‘knocked up’..from basic materials. 1972Shooting Times & Country Mag. 4 Mar. 21/2 They will knock you up a meal to hold you through the coldest day's fishing or wildfowling.
e. To get or accumulate by labour or exertion; spec. in Cricket, to run up (a score), make (so many runs) by striking the ball. colloq.
1837Whittock Bk. Trades (1842) 360 [He] obtains almost full employment,..and ‘knocks’ up {pstlg}3 or {pstlg}4 or more weekly. 1860Baily's Monthly Mag. Oct. 41 Tinley in a trice knocked up 8. 1888Sporting Life 10 Dec. (Farmer), With only 29 to win, White at his next attempt knocked up the necessary item. 1891Times 12 Oct. 11/5 The Englishmen..knocked up 305 runs before their innings closed. 1955Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 37 This adds up to over $1500 per week which must be knocked up—just to meet operating expenses.
f. To arouse by knocking at the door. (This sense is not current in the U.S.)
1663Pepys Diary 11 Sept., This morning, about two or three o'clock, knocked up in our back yard;..I found it was the constable and his watch. 1737Pope Hor. Epist. ii. i. 161 Time was, a sober Englishman would knock His servants up, and rise by five o'clock. 1851Thackeray Eng. Hum., Steele (1858) 121 They knock up the surgeon. 1973National Observer (U.S.) 3 Feb., Fielding's guide-book considerately explains that a male host may quite casually tell a female American house guest that he will ‘knock you up at 7:30 tomorrow morning’. The term, of course, conveys nothing more than a rapping at the door until one is awakened.
g. To overcome or make ill with fatigue; to exhaust, tire out. (Esp. in pass.)
1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 167 Where the Horse is young,..it would splint him, or knock him up (as we say) if the Rider were to make his Flourishes upon his Back like a Rope-dancer. 1770F. Burney Early Diary 7 Feb., Here is a lady who is not at all tired,..and here am I knocked up. 1856T. A. Trollope Girlhood Cath. de Medici xvi. 253 He is completely knocked up from over-work. 1883Ld. R. Gower My Remin. II. 244 Walter was too knocked up to join those who rode to the grove.
h. intr. To become exhausted or tired out; to become unserviceable; to break down.
1771Smollett Humph. Cl. 12 Sept., In passing the sands without a guide, his horse had knocked up. 1849Alb. Smith Pottleton Leg. (repr.) 255 Every literary man, however great his success, knocks up at last. 1897A. Beardsley Let. 25 Feb. (1971) 259, I am aghast at the amount of travelling she [sc. his sister Mabel] has to get through before the tour comes to an end. I do hope she won't ‘knock up’ while she is over there. 1941I. L. Idriess Great Boomerang x. 78 They travelled fast then, taking the chance. But their horses knocked up.
i. trans. To break up, destroy, put an end to.
1764Foote Mayor of G. i. Wks. 1799 I. 173 This plaguy peace..has knock'd up all the trade of the Alley. 1776in New York during Amer. Rev. (1861) 99 The arrival of the fleet, since which almost all business in town is knocked up. 1857De Quincey Whiggism in Relat. to Literature Wks. VI. 67 The establishment was knocked up, and clearly from gross defects of management.
j. To make (a woman) pregnant; (less commonly) to have sexual intercourse with (a woman). slang (orig. U.S.).
1813C. Earle Diary 12 Apr. in J. McPhee Pine Barrens (1971) ii. 33 William Mick's widow arrived here in pursuit of J. Mick, who she says has knocked her up. 1836D. Crockett Exploits & Adv. Texas vii. 97 Nigger women are knocked down by the auctioneer, and knocked up by the purchaser. 1860Hotten Dict. Slang (ed. 2) 166 Knocked up. In the United States, amongst females, the phrase is equivalent to being enceinte, so that Englishmen often unconsciously commit themselves when amongst our Yankee cousins. 1925E. Hemingway In Our Time (1926) 165 Hell, no girls get married around here till they're knocked up. 1934H. Miller Tropic of Cancer 241 Nearly all the co-eds had been knocked up some time or other. 1952B. Malamud Natural 133 You haven't knocked up a dame maybe? 1971H. C. Rae Marksman i. vi. 51 He screwed her, knocked her up first go and..married her..before she could even contemplate abortion. 1973E. Bullins Theme is Blackness 170 The girls all got knocked-up and set up homes, got married, went on the block or on welfare or turned into booze hounds.
▪ II. knock, n.1
Forms: 4–5 knokk(e, 4–6 knok, 6 knoke, 6–7 knocke, 7– knock.
[f. knock v.]
1. a. An act of knocking; a sounding blow; a hard stroke or thump; spec. a rap at a door to call attention or gain admittance.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 327 Þanne shal þe abbot of Abyndoun and alle his issu..Haue a knokke of a kynge. 1460J. Capgrave Chron. (Rolls) 284 He schal for his spoilyng have as good knokkis as evyr had Englischman. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 223 b, As a nayle, the moo knockes it hath, the more sure it is fixed. a1550Freiris of Berwik 154 in Dunbar's Poems (1893) 290 His knok scho kend, and did so him in lett. 1663Butler Hud. i. i. 200 And prove their Doctrine Orthodox By Apostolick Blows and Knocks. 1742Pope Dunc. iv. 443 A drowsy Watchman, that just gives a knock, And breaks our rest, to tell us what's a-clock. 1819Keats Let. 13 Mar. (1958) II. 46 The variations of single and double knocks. a1844L. Hunt Our Cottage 10 No news comes here,..not a postman's knock. 1866Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 317 The telegraph boy gave his double-knock. 1883C. J. Mathews Patter versus Clatter ii. 10 (Double knock, L.H.) There, someone come to call. Polly, go and see who it is; stop, child, take off your apron, it's a double knock.
b. A misfortune, a rebuff, a blow; adverse criticism. Freq. in phr. to take the knock: to sustain a severe financial or emotional blow, to suffer a setback.
1649T. Ford Ludus Fort. 92 Our bodies are but fraile, earthen vessels, subject to every knock of sicknesse. 1890Globe 21 Apr. 6/1 A broken backer of horses who has taken, what is known in the language of the turf, as the knock. 1898Doyle Trag. Korosko ii. 37 We get hard knocks and no thanks, and why should we do it? 1900E. Wells Chestnuts xxiii. 226 When a prominent backer takes the knock racing, he sometimes has the greatest difficulty to avoid his creditors. 1905‘H. McHugh’ You can search Me iii. 50 There are only four people in New York city who can write criticisms—the rest of the bunch are slush-dealers, and a knock from any one of them is a boost. 1906Galsworthy Man of Property iii. iv. 322 Here's a poor devil whose mistress has just been telling him a pretty little story of her husband... He's taken the knock, you see. 1929D. Runyon in Hearst's International Nov. 73/1 It will be a knock to his reputation. 1930V. Palmer in Bulletin (Sydney) 30 Apr. 38/3 [McCurdie] lay there... ‘He's taken the knock,’ said a cattle-buyer... In a moment a change came into the atmosphere around the sleeping man. 1930D. Runyon in Collier's 13 Sept. 7/1 They are always doing something which is considered a knock to the community, such as robbing people. 1936A. Huxley Eyeless in Gaza vi. 54 ‘One's had a pretty bad knock,’ he added self-consciously, in that queer jargon which he imagined to be colloquial English... That ‘bad knock’ was a metaphor drawn from the boxing contests he had never witnessed. 1948V. Palmer Golconda xiv. 111 He saw himself..ready to stand up and take the knock if they got into trouble with the john. 1955Times 19 Aug. 2/5 In a dress suit much too large for him, he is on top of the world by submitting with such cheerful readiness to its knocks. 1959Encounter Aug. 7/1 Like other institutions of the Establishment, it has taken a knock or two in recent years. 1962B.S.I. News June 9/1 Advertising has had some hard knocks from its critics recently. 1973A. Behrend Samarai Affair ii. 24 The pilot..in the event of an accident will..[be] summoned to appear before the Pilotage Committee to explain his actions and take the knock if held to blame.
c. A knocking noise, or knocking noises, in an engine; spec. in a reciprocating internal-combustion engine, noise caused by a very abrupt rise in pressure in the cylinder as a result of too rapid combustion (in spark-ignition engines, the sudden spontaneous ignition of all the unburnt portion of the mixture before the flame from the sparking plug reaches it); faulty combustion of this character. Cf. knock v. 5 b.
1899J. Perry Steam Engine v. 115 In double-acting engines we can often utilise the inertia forces to alter the point in the crank pin path at which the knock occurs, so that it shall not produce such serious effects. 1903M. P. Bale Gas & Oil Engine Managem. iv. 61 Knocking in the Cylinder.—This often arises from premature firing of the charge before the end of the compression stroke is reached, thus throwing a greater pressure than usual on the piston before it commences the power stroke, and causing a jar or knock as the crank turns the dead centre. 1903Cassell's Cycl. Mech. 3rd Ser. 264/1 Locating ‘Knock’ in Steam Engine. 1908Motor Cycle 15 Jan. 46/1, I have had a number of letters lately referring to the existence of ‘knock’ in engines that have run a year or two in private hands. 1920Cornh. Mag. Sept. 314 The carbon knock, the ignition knock, and the bearing knock are fairly simple propositions. 1927W. Deeping Doomsday xxv. 265 Half-way up the long hill..‘Cherry's’ engine developed a sudden and rather fearsome ‘knock’. 1933[see compression-ignition]. 1939Croft & Tangerman Steam-Engine Princ. (ed. 2) xiii. 410 By far the commonest causes of knocks are water in the cylinder and loose bearings. 1956Molloy & Lanchester Automobile Engineer's Ref. Bk. v. 5 The well-known effect of ignition timing on knock is due to the fact that the relative timing of the piston and the spark-ignited flame controls the pressure in the end-gas. 1963C. Campbell Sports Car Engine ix. 181 During knock more heat is transferred to the cylinder walls. 1973A. Parrish Mech. Engineer's Ref. Bk. ii. 17 Correct choice of mixture strength, ignition timing, fuel (octane number) and good combustion chamber design will allow smooth combustion without knock which occurs if the end gas reaches the condition where self-ignition causes an explosion of all the mixture remaining in the chamber.
2. A clock. Sc.
1502Ld. Treas. Acc. Scot. II. 159 To Schir James Petegrew, to his expens cumand to Strivelin to divis ane knok iijli. xs. 1559Kennedy Lett. to Willock in Wodrow Misc. (1844) 270 Att ten houris of the knoke. 1826J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 272 Do you put back..the lang hand o' the knock.
Comb.1540Ld. Treas. Acc. Scot. in Pitcairn Crim. Trials I. 305* William Purves, Knok-maker and smyth. 1663Inv. Ld. J. Gordon's Furnit., A going knock and knockcaice. 1885Edgar Old Ch. Life Scot. I. 29 The Knock house stood in a little gallery called the Knock loft.
3. Cricket. An innings; a spell at batting (in a match or at practice).
1889J. Lillywhite Cricketers' Ann. 72 Surrey were fortunate to get first ‘knock’, and..were able to just reach the second hundred. 1898G. Giffen With Bat & Ball i. 2 At last..I would..bowl for a little while; and then they began to give me an occasional knock. 1900Captain III. 200/1 ‘You play cricket yourself, then?’ ‘Oh, I have an occasional knock.’ Ibid. 210/1 ‘W. G.’ advises every batsman to have a knock..before going in. An over or two at the nets loosens your muscles. 1909Pearson's Mag. Aug. 180/1 Crofton's had won the toss and taken first ‘knock’. 1927Observer 27 Nov. 28 His knock..included eight boundaries. 1958‘N. Blake’ Penknife in my Heart iii. 50 I'm taking first knock. I've got to be sure you'll go in when it's your turn. 1970Times 26 Aug. 11/8 A fine knock by Mushtaq, who batted for two hours and hit ten fours.
4. knock for knock: applied to an agreement between insurers that each will pay his own policy-holders without regard to the question of liability.
1906Daily Chron. 26 July 6/6 Mr. Fairbank said that the ‘knock for knock’ agreement had never paid with the horse vehicles. 1927B. C. Hoskins Insurance Lexicon 127 Knock for knock agreement.—An arrangement made between Companies..for dealing automatically with collisions between vehicles owned by their respective insureds; each Company undertakes to pay for the damage to its own insured's vehicle irrespective of the question of liability as between the parties in collision. 1958Manch. Guardian 11 June 9/6 The knock-for-knock agreement is an arrangement whereby when two insured vehicles have been in collision each insurance company pays for the damage to the car it has insured,..without regard to the degree of blame, if any, of the driver. 1972Mod. Law Rev. XXXV. i. 18 Some types of cases which are handled by small claims courts in other jurisdictions are dealt with in England in ways which obviate the necessity for a claim. Perhaps the most significant example is knock-for-knock agreements among motor-vehicle insurers.
5. a. (An act of) copulation; so on the knock, engaged in prostitution. b. Austral. Phr. to do a knock with: (see quot. 1941).
1933N. Lindsay Saturdee 138 Supposin' I was to do a knock with girls, what 'ud I say to them? 1937Partridge Dict. Slang 460/2 Knock, a copulation. 1941Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 23 Do a knock (line) with: to take an amorous interest in a member of the opposite sex. 1969D. Bagley Spoilers i. 11 Maybe she was on the knock.
6. Special Comb.: knockmeter, an instrument for measuring the intensity of knock in the cylinder of an internal-combustion engine; knock rating, (the determination of) the insusceptibility of a fuel to knock.
1934Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXVIII. 353 Knock intensity is measured by a bouncing pin, in conjunction with either a knockmeter or a gas-evolution burette. 1960V. B. Guthrie Petroleum Products Handbk. iv. 17 The test engine is equipped with a pressure-sensitive pickup mounted in the cylinder head in direct contact with the combustion chamber. A knockmeter is used in conjunction with this pressure-sensitive element to indicate on a scale the intensity of the engine knock... A fuel that is to be tested is brought up to a standard knock intensity, as indicated on the knockmeter, by adjustment of the engine compression ratio.
1932Engineering 8 July 45/3 The marked effect of cylinder temperature upon the relative knock ratings of fuels was observed by Heron in 1928. 1933Aircraft Engineering Aug. 177/1 To have an agreed scale of knock-rating for aviation fuels is no less important. 1959B.S.I. News Aug. 14 Two draft ISO recommendations covering the motor and research methods of determining knock rating.
Sense 6 in Dict. becomes 7. Add: [3.] Also, the batsman's score during an innings, esp. a good score rapidly achieved.
1976Milton Keynes Express 30 July 41/1 Arnold Mann was top scorer with a patient knock of 24. 1986Club Cricketer May 21/1 He..averaged 36.75 in four innings for the county, thanks largely to a knock of 72.
6. Angling colloq. A pull on the line by a fish. Cf. bite n. 3.
1969in P. Beale Partridge's Dict. Slang (1984) 654/1. 1987 Coarse Angler Feb. 29/2 Up to darkness I did have a modicum of success with two small chub and a few knocks which did not materialise and which I put down to small chub or dace.
▪ III. knock, n.2 Sc.|nɒk|
[In sense 1, a. Gael. (also Ir.) cnoc knoll, rounded hill. With 2 cf. Danish dial. knok little hillock (Molbech).]
1. A hill; a hillock, a knoll.
17..Jacobite Relics II. 148 (Jam.) Round the rock, Down by the knock. 1820Glenfergus I. 108 The knock, an insulated hill behind the church.
2. A name given on the coast of Lincolnshire, etc., to sand-banks. Cf. Kentish Knock, a sand-bank near the mouth of the Thames; also Knock Sand.
1587Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1538/2 To make [at Dover] certeine groins or knocks, which at the havens mouth should cause such a depth, as thereby the whole harborough should lie drie at a low water. 1881Knock Sand [see knock v. 5]. 1898Westm. Gaz. 1 Dec. 7/2 The surf boat..when near Kentish Knock was taken in tow by a tug..no vessel can be found on the Knock.
▪ IV. † knock, knok, n.3 Obs. rare—1.
[app. a. LG. knocke in same sense: see knitch n.]
A bundle of heckled flax.
1573Lanc. Wills III. 62, xx knokes of hatchelled lyne.
▪ V. knock
variant of nock. |