knock the wind out of (someone)

phrase

: to knock the air out of a person's lungs and make him or her unable to breathe normally for a brief time

The fall knocked the wind out of me.

Examples of knock the wind out of (someone) in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

An upper-cut in the fifth round looked to knock the wind out of Paul, with the American taking a knee and falling at the feet of his opponent who suddenly sensed a finish. — Ben Church, CNN Money, 20 Dec. 2025

Kelce took a hit from Bills safety Cole Bishop that appeared to knock the wind out of him. — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 2 Nov. 2025

The kicks that knock the wind out of me remind me that there’s someone else in the room. — Hazlitt, 31 July 2024

Did your electric bill from January knock the wind out of you? — Erin Mansfield, The Enquirer, 18 Feb. 2024

Grief is a daily stomach punch, and the holidays can especially knock the wind out of you. — Alex Zaragoza, Los Angeles Times, 15 Dec. 2023

And, as with any family, there are the moments that knock the wind out of you. — Danielle Pergament, Allure, 14 Dec. 2023

IndieWire published a bombshell piece of investigative journalism on July 27 that may just knock the wind out of you. — Bella Arnold, Vulture, 27 July 2023

Which should make Waiting for Godot knock the wind out of us like a punch in the guts. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019