knock-downadj.n.
/ˈnɒkdaʊn/, U.S. /ˈnɑkˌdaʊn/ A. adj.
1.
a. Such as to knock down or fell to the ground; figurative irresistible, overwhelming.
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the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > effect produced on emotions > [adjective] > strong or deep
sensiblea1393
solemnc1400
forcible1573
powerful1588
pressive1623
effectual1662
knock-down1690
impressive1775
imposing1783
effective1790
telling1819
home-coming1848
compelling1901
awesome1916
impactive1934
dynamite1942
fuck-off1962
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > [adjective] > overcoming or overwhelming
tyrannous1549
overwhelming1567
overpowering1616
overbearing1639
surprising1645
defeating1661
knock-down1690
overcoming1704
knocking1711
knock-me-down1944
1690 J. Dryden Amphitryon i. i. 4 This same Arbitrary Power is a knock-down Argument.
1794 Sporting Mag. 4 78/2 After the first knock-down blow, Johnson attempted to shift.
1802 J. Wolcot Ld. Belgrave in Wks. (1812) IV. 514 You've learnt to face a knock-down laugh.
1840 T. De Quincey Style: No. II in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Sept. 396/2 These..are knock-down blows to the Socratic..philosophy.
1885 W. J. Courthope Liberal Movement Eng. Lit. iv. 114 The view that Johnson propounded in his direct ‘knock-down’ style.
1971 Nature 15 Oct. 441/1 They are used against houseflies, mosquitoes and cockroaches..; their great advantage is that pyrethrin I has a high kill rate and pyrethrin II a high knock down rate.
b. Adapted to be fastened by being knocked flat at the end: see to knock down 2 at knock v. Phrasal verbs.
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society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > fastening > [adjective] > with other specific fastenings
buckled1394
clasped1582
chained1613
nutted1688
hooping1795
knock-down1869
stapled1956
1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuilding xvii. 383 It is advantageous to have plain knockdown or conical points to steel rivets.
2. knock-down price, the price below which an article will not be ‘knocked down’ at an auction; the reserve price. Also, knock-down book, knock-down fee (U.S.).
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society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > [noun] > auction prices
sale price1793
starting price1805
reserve price1820
put-up price1831
reserve1854
knock-down price1888
society > trade and finance > selling > a public sale > [noun] > auction > book recording sales at auction
knock-down book1888
1888 Harper's Mag. Nov. 934/2 Bills for knock-down fees are presented for payment to auctioneers every month.
1888 Harper's Mag. Nov. 937/2 The knock-down book records the price, buyer, and all particulars of every sale in the Auction-room.
1895 Daily News 6 May 6/5 Fairy, favourite spaniel of Lady Bulwer's,..40 gs.;..the knockdown price last year was 54 gs.
3. Constructed so as to be easily ‘knocked down’ or taken in pieces for removal (see to knock down 6 at knock v. Phrasal verbs sold as, or in the form of, a number of separate parts that require to be assembled.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > [adjective] > types of furniture generally
standing1444
plush1615
Queen Elizabeth1673
occasional1749
Adametic1774
French-polished1836
upholstered1837
Adamish1838
Chippendale1855
Queen Anne1863
knock-down1875
Wellington chest1880
Adamesque1881
Sheraton1883
Hepplewhite1897
quaint1897
bombé1904
lowboy1915
Jacobean1918
overstuffed1922
spool1928
Williamsburg1931
thermed1952
stackable1958
Scandinavian1959
wall-to-wall1959
Populuxe1986
1795 W. Winterbotham Hist. View Amer. U.S. III. 305 Articles of exportation [were]..231,776 Barrels of dried and pickled fish..48,860 Shook or knock-down casks.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1239/2 The shook may be said to be a knock-down barrel.
1888 Sci. Amer. LIX. 187 To make a knockdown wigwam, the framing should be lashed together with ropes or twine, and the bark tied to the rafters with twine.
1952 Archit. Rev. 111 241/1 Swedish ‘knock-down’ furniture.
1952 Archit. Rev. 111 241/1 The production of ‘packaged’ furniture (an adjective which is preferable to either knock-down or demountable, since it not only sounds better, but is more definitive).
1969 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 2 Feb. 26/6 Cars imported in the complete knockdown form.
1971 Rand Daily Mail (Johannesburg) 4 Sept. 10/3 The boat is imported in a knock-down form and is assembled here.
1972 ‘E. Lathen’ Murder without Icing (1973) vii. 65 Millions of Americans..had stayed up late Christmas Eve to struggle with knockdown toys.
B. n.
1.
a. Something that knocks one down; something overpowering; e.g. strong liquor. slang.
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the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > types or qualities of intoxicating liquor > [noun] > strong
strong drinkc1405
ipse1634
knock-down1698
hogan1702
knock-me-down1756
milk1784
hot stuff1823
chain lightning1825
sudden death1834
hardware1835
stagger-juice1905
sting1929
strongers1939
screech1944
rocket fuel1958
1698 W. King Journey to London 35 He answer'd me, that he had a thousand such sort of Liquors,..Old Pharaoh, Knockdown, Hugmateé [etc.].
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Knock-down, very strong Ale or Beer.
b. = knock-out n. 4. U.S.
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the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > quality of inspiring wonder > [noun] > a marvel, object of wonder
wonderc700
wonderinga1100
selcouthc1175
sellya1200
ferlyc1275
wondernessc1275
wonder thingc1290
adventurec1300
marvelc1300
marvellingc1400
wonderelc1440
signc1450
admiration1490
wonderment1542
wondering stockc1555
miracle-worker1561
singularity1576
stupor mundi1587
miracle1595
marvellation1599
portent1607
astonishment1611
prodigy1616
magnale1623
magnality1646
mirable1646
phenomenon1741
gaping-stock1817
reacher1825
stunner1829
buster1833
caution1834
merry-go-rounder1838
knock-down1843
astonisher1871
marvelry1874
mazer1876
phenom1881
whizzer1888
knock-out1892
whizz1908
doozy1916
doozer1930
heart-stopper1940
blockbuster1942
ooh-ah1957
mind-blower1968
stonker1987
1843 Knickerbocker Mag. 21 484 ‘Tom and Jerry’ ushered before a Park audience the scientific Mr. T. Belcher Kay, one of the great knockdowns of foreign celebrity.
2. An act of knocking down; a blow that knocks down or fells to the ground; figurative an overwhelming blow; a stand-up or free fight. Also (U.S. colloquial) knock-down (and) drag-out: a free-for-all, a rough-and-tumble fight; also transferred and attributive.
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society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > [noun] > a fight > in which anyone or everyone joins
battle royal1672
free fight1729
knock-down (and) drag-out1809
rough and tumble1821
free-for-all1874
go-as-you-please1880
the world > movement > impact > striking > striking with specific degree of force > [noun] > a severe blow > a knock-down blow
recumbentibusc1425
knocker1674
knock-down1809
sockdolager1830
purler1850
grounder1889
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > [noun] > a fight > standing
knock-down1845
stand-up1868
stand-up fight1884
1809 Sporting Mag. 33 6 This round produced the first blood, and first knock-down.
1818 Lady Morgan in Passages from Autobiogr. (1859) 85 It is a knockdown to all Morgan's arguments and mine.
1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie I. iv. 93 Making it a real knock-down and drag-out!
1834 Amer. Railroad Jrnl. 3 304/1 He was one of our careless unconcerned knock down and drag out looking sort of fellows.
1834 W. A. Carruthers Kentuckian in N.Y. I. 61 It's what I would call a regular row; I never saw a prettier knock down and drag out in all the days of my life.
1837 R. M. Bird Nick of Woods II. 105 It war a reggelar fair knock-down-and-drag-out, and I lick'd him!
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xxxvi. 395 ‘I'll try and bear up agin such a reg'lar knock down o' talent,’ replied Sam.
1845 E. Miall in Nonconformist 5 437 Let us turn to and have a real Irish knockdown.
1932 Tulsa (Okla.) World 13 Mar. v. 2/3 A knock-down-and-drag-out battle between Roosevelt and Smith forces.
1941 W. H. Auden New Year Let. ii. 34 The hard self-conscious particles Collide, divide like numerals In knock-down drag-out laissez-faire.
1949 B. A. Botkin Treasury Southern Folklore ii. iii. 251 When it comes to knock-down-and-drag-out..political bickering..well, as Donald Davidson's typical Middle Georgia country gentleman, ‘Cousin Roderick’, puts it, ‘Politics is for lawyers.’
1952 B. Ulanov Hist. Jazz in Amer. viii. 89 Whole choruses..and ensemble sections..are delightful..in knockdown and dragout choruses.
1968 Punch 1 May 624/1 An elderly bum who's just sold him the Lincoln Centre at the knock-down drag-out price of fourteen bucks.
3. A ‘knock-down’ piece of furniture: see A. 3.
Π
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1239/2 Knock-down, a piece of furniture or other structure adapted to be disconnected at the joints so as to pack compactly.
4. The heeling of a ship by the force of the wind.
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society > travel > travel by water > shipwreck > [noun] > capsize > causes of
knock-down1888
plough-in1965
1888 Scribner's Mag. May 526/1 Every bit of that water came in through the hatch at the time of the knock-down.
1926 H. Howard Yacht ‘Alice’ 13 Raised deck amidships which gives excellent room below, increases the structural strength and adds greatly to her stability and righting moment in case of a knockdown.
1951 H. I. Chapelle Amer. Small Sailing Craft 242 Such a maneuver takes room and also might lead to a knockdown when the boa pays off, as she has no way on.
1973 J. R. L. Anderson Death on Rocks xi. 201 Anthea had seen our knockdown... They stood by us until it was clear that we were not going to sink.
5. An introduction. U.S., Australian, and New Zealand slang.
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the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > courtesy > courteous act or expression > [noun] > introduction
introduction1766
knock-down1865
intro1923
1865 ‘D. Rattlehead’ Adv. Fudge Fumble v. 61 I asked the young man if he would go down some night and give me a ‘knock down’ to the family, and Miss Kate, more especially.
1896 G. Ade Artie iii. 24 Take me over and gi' me a knock down to the queen in the corner.
1911 J. Vance Cynthia v. 61 You wouldn't take her for the kind you could pick up without a knock-down.
1916 C. J. Dennis Songs Sentimental Bloke (new ed.) 125 Knock-down, a formal introduction.
1930 National Educ. (N.Z.) May 197/2 I heard one young fellow ask another to ‘give him a knockdown to that tart in the green skirt’. I gathered that he was asking for an introduction to a young lady!!
1937 J. Weidman I can get it for you Wholesale xvi. 156 ‘Meet the stable,’ he said, waving his hand to take in the girls... ‘You want a knockdown to something?’
1945 Chicago Daily News 7 Sept. 31/3 I know her well! I'll sell you a knockdown to her for two-bits.
1946 F. Sargeson That Summer 66 He called me over and gave me a knock-down, and she was certainly the goods.
1974 Telegraph (Brisbane) 28 May 24/1 I think you should meet Fred. And maybe Bert, too. So here's for the knock-down.
Draft additions March 2009
knock down ginger n. British a game or prank in which children knock on a door and run away, or knock from a distance by means of a piece of string to a door knocker, so that it appears that nobody is there when the door is answered. [Origin uncertain: ginger may simply reflect a generic use of the nickname Ginger (compare ginger n. 4). Compare rat-tat ginger n. at rat-tat n., int., and adj. Compounds, rat-a-tat ginger n. at rat-a-tat int., n., and adj. Compounds, and earlier to knock down ginger at knock v. Additions. Other names such as knock knock ginger, knock out ginger, ginger knocking, etc., are also occasionally attested.]
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > other children's games > [noun]
rosy apple1882
doctors and nurses (also patients)1906
doctor1918
knock down ginger1959
rat-a-tat ginger1959
riprap1959
rat-tat ginger1962
1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren xviii. 378 In London and the Home Counties it is generally known as ‘Knock Down Ginger’.
1980 J. White Rothschild Buildings 181 Then there were the games directed against adults, like variations on Knock down Ginger where flats on opposite sides of a landing had their doors tied ‘and we used to..knock on the doors and the people would answer and couldn't open the doors’.
2004 M. Oke Times of our Lives 62 Then there was ‘Knock-down Ginger’, also sometimes known as ‘Knocking dollies out of bed’ with its associated rhyme: A house to let, A house to pay, Knock at the door And run away.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1901; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.1690