knock

knock

noun

Definition of KNOCK

1

a hard strike with a part of the body or an instrument <gave the door a good knock>

Synonyms bang, bash, bat, beat, belt, biff, bop, box, buffet, bust, chop, clap, clip, clout, crack, cuff, dab, douse [British], fillip, hack, haymaker, hit, hook, knock, larrup [dialect], lash, lick, pelt, pick, plump, poke, pound, punch, rap, slam, slap, slug, smack, smash, sock, spank, stinger, stripe, stroke, swat, swipe, switch, thud, thump, thwack, wallop, welt, whack, wham, whop (also whap)

Related Words counter, counterblow, counterpunch, counterstroke; body blow, hand, kick, knee, left, one-two, rabbit punch, right, right-hander, roundhouse, shiver, sidewinder, sucker punch, swing, uppercut; cruncher, kayo, knockdown, knockout, KO; bastinado (or bastinade), battering, beating, bludgeoning, clobbering, cudgeling (or cudgelling), drubbing, hammering, lambasting, licking, pasting, pounding, pummeling (also pummelling), thrashing; flogging, walloping, whip, whipping

2

bad luck or an example of this <getting his college degree was a six year adventure not without its share of knocks along the way>

Synonyms adversity, ill, knock, misadventure, mischance, mishap, tragedy

Related Words calamity, cataclysm, catastrophe, disaster; affliction, hardship, trial, tribulation, woe; distress, misery, suffering, unhappiness; defeat, failure, fizzle, nonsuccess; curse, evil, sorrow, trouble; accident, casualty; blow, body blow, disappointment, letdown, setback; circumstance, destiny, doom, fate, lot, portion

Near Antonyms break, chance, fluke, godsend, hit, opportunity, strike, stroke, windfall; accomplishment, achievement, success

Antonyms fortune, luck, serendipity

3

a change in status for the worse usually temporarily <the geneticist's reputation took a knock when several of his peers were unable to confirm his research findings>

Synonyms knock, lapse, reversal, setback

Related Words disappointment, frustration, letdown; comedown, decline, descent, down, downfall, fall; turnabout, turnaround; recession, regression, retrogression, reversion; relapse; breakdown, collapse, crash, meltdown, ruin, undoing

Near Antonyms status quo