1
as in to bump
to come into usually forceful contact with something
my knee knocked against the table leg when I tried to get up quickly
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to hit
to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner
threatened to knock him upside the head if he didn't do as he was told
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in to blame
to express one's unfavorable opinion of the worth or quality of
hey, don't knock it until you've tried it
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in blow
a hard strike with a part of the body or an instrument
gave the door a good knock
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in misfortune
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 & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in setback
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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of knock
Sean Williams, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
The impact knocked me out instantly.
—Will Rice, Outside, 27 Jan. 2026
Chris Hardesty, AJC.com, 16 Jan. 2026
That’s no knock on Calva, who does as good a job with the role as anyone could have.
—Judy Berman, Time, 9 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for knock
Verb
Officers didn’t knock on wealthy families’ doors.
—Sean Williams, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
The impact knocked me out instantly.
—Will Rice, Outside, 27 Jan. 2026
Noun
Persistent knock can mean hotter operation, more stress and potentially expensive issues over time.
—Chris Hardesty, AJC.com, 16 Jan. 2026
That’s no knock on Calva, who does as good a job with the role as anyone could have.
—Judy Berman, Time, 9 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for knock
Recent Examples of Synonyms for knock
Verb
-
After being bumped to September for three straight years because of the NSCAR Street Race, the Taste of Chicago is reclaiming its longstanding dates in July, the city announced.—
Adam Harrington,
CBS News,
28 Jan. 2026
-
Now, it’s been bumped down to #2.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Journalist Don Lemon was released from custody Friday after he was arrested and hit with federal civil rights charges over his coverage of an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
31 Jan. 2026
-
But of all the spaghetti that got thrown at the wall, this is the one that hits for reasons that are totally orthogonal to politics and sort of Washington.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
31 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
In a comparable case in the United States in 2023, a federal judge imposed $5,000 fines on two lawyers and a law firm after ChatGPT was blamed for their submission of fictitious legal research in an aviation injury claim.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
-
That leaves them out of pocket, at risk of reputational damage and in danger of losing customers who blame them, rather than the cloud services provider, for the problem.—
David Prosser,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Reigns flipped Gunther onto the edge of the ring and went for the knockout blow, but it was countered.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
1 Feb. 2026
-
After being victimized by a pair of Bulls blow-bys in his initial stint, there was no additional stint, with Jovic instead moved up when Adebayo went out.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
1 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
His mother answered, and the woman offered to examine her family tree to locate ancestral sources of misfortune.—
E. Tammy Kim,
New Yorker,
26 Jan. 2026
-
The triple death was the latest misfortune to stalk the first manned Apollo mission.—
Orlando Sentinel Staff,
The Orlando Sentinel,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Snapp, the drug policy researcher, insists that Mexico’s ban is a setback by removing a safer alternative to cigarettes.—
María Verza,
Fortune,
31 Jan. 2026
-
The greater setback was at the senior Red Bull team after Isack Hadjar, who stepped up from Racing Bulls for 2026, crashed in just his second day behind the wheel of the RB22 car.—
Luke Smith,
New York Times,
31 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
My ten-year-old granddaughter was marching and banging her little saucepan with a salad spoon.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Libby and director Tyne Rafaeli certainly do not miss an opportunity to bang that gavel.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
As the Wolverines dribbled the ball down the floor, all five Spartans slapped the floor.—
Austin Meek,
New York Times,
31 Jan. 2026
-
And finally, in late October, when plans for another bilateral summit were shelved (again because the Kremlin seemed unwilling to compromise), the White House slapped sanctions on Russia’s biggest oil giants, Lukoil and Rosneft – a step even the Biden administration had balked at.—
Clare Sebastian,
CNN Money,
27 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Knock.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knock. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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