knock over

verb

knocked over; knocking over; knocks over

transitive verb

1

a(1)

: to strike to the ground : fell

(2)

: overwhelm

was knocked over by the news

b

: eliminate

knocked over every difficulty

2

a

: steal

especially : hijack

knocks over a truckload of merchandise

—J. B. Martin

b

: rob

knocking over a bank

Synonyms

• rob
• steal (from)

Examples of knock over in a Sentence

he knocked over six convenience stores before getting caught

knocked me over trying to get out the door

Recent Examples on the Web

The yacht was vulnerable to violent winds and was probably knocked over by gusts of more than 117 km (73 miles) per hour, an interim British report said last month. —Reuters, NBC news, 21 June 2025

The Mets once again went all Barney knocking over the pancake syrup this week, when they were swept by the Braves in Atlanta for approximately the 700th time since the teams became division rivals in 1994. —Jerry Beach, Forbes.com, 20 June 2025

Neto celebrated his goal by pointing to the name on the back of his shirt in front of the Flamengo fans and the referee’s denial of a penalty after Enzo Fernandez was knocked over in the box brought impassioned complaints to the referee. —Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 20 June 2025

One time, the girls knocked over a ceramic Black angel from a collectibles shelf. —Jayme Fraser, USA Today, 16 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1814, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

Rhymes for knock over

• carryover
• changeover
• crossover
• cutover
• flashover
• hangover
• holdover
• layover
• leftover
• makeover
• moreover
• passover