knock up

British
as in to wake
to cause to stop sleeping I asked the clerk at the hotel to knock me up at 7:00 a.m.

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of knock up Meanwhile, while Miranda busies herself with building a pageant empire, her husband Ray, a pill-popping nurse, has knocked up the 18-year-old granddaughter of one of his hospice patients. Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 28 Aug. 2025 Julia, worried, maintains that she’s not knocked up. Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 15 Aug. 2025 With 200 hp worth of empty space to play with before knocking up against the 600-hp V12 Verado, Mercury is dialing up the overall output of the V10 range by adding a new 425-hp variant as the flagship of the family. New Atlas, 12 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for knock up
Verb
  • Smoothing round poppy seeds and sea salt—which do the gentle buffing—come suspended in a hunk of detoxifying French blue clay, nourishing olive fruit oil, and zingy peppermint essential oil, the latter of which wakes you up better than any iPhone alarm.
    Sophia Panych, Allure, 16 Sep. 2025
  • If anything, conflict is to be expected; seeing eye-to-eye every waking moment of every day would be far more concerning.
    Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The box office success of King Kong’s 1952 rerelease, followed by Eugene Lourie’s The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), where a dinosaur was awakened by an atomic blast, both served as inspiration.
    Michael Taube, The Washington Examiner, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Gentle pressure with fingers or toys designed for curved reach can help awaken this zone.
    Essence, Essence, 11 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Billy awoke to the sound of another alarm going off in the plant.
    Manuel Muñoz, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
  • Earlier that week, the men awoke in their cells at four in the morning, the usual time.
    Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Knock up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knock%20up. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.

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