knock back

verb

knocked back; knocking back; knocks back

transitive verb

: drink, swallow
specifically : to toss down (an alcoholic beverage)

Examples of knock back in a Sentence

desperately thirsty, she knocked back an entire glass of water without pausing
Recent Examples on the Web In Paris, Diana was tricked, by her husband and mine, into knocking back a wineglass that had a dead fly in it. Weike Wang, The New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2024 But later, Chiles' score was knocked back down when the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled her appeal was submitted four seconds too late. Laura L. Davis, USA TODAY, 12 Aug. 2024 Yet what so many of us recall haplessly knocking back in those bad old days is not even true tequila. Chantal Martineau, Foreign Affairs, 25 Nov. 2015 Or at Shuggie’s, knocking back 750 ml of natural orange wine, poured directly into your mouth by Murphy from a Catalan porrón. POUR IT ON A trash pie at Shuggies in San Francisco. Tamar Adler, Vogue, 25 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for knock back 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'knock back.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1931, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of knock back was circa 1931

Dictionary Entries Near knock back

Cite this Entry

“Knock back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/knock%20back. Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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