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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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
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
-
So, that December, my parents woke me up in the middle of the night for our last cross-country drive through the underground.—
Zayd Ayers Dohrn,
New Yorker,
28 Mar. 2026
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The patterns displayed during active sleep often resemble those seen during waking behaviors, supporting the idea that the brain may be reactivating prior experiences.—
Samantha Agate,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Cynthia Trevino, a resident for 27 years, said she’s been awakened at 3 and 4 in the morning by planes that fail to follow the airport’s voluntary noise abatement program.—
Phil Diehl,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
29 Mar. 2026
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The original movie, released in 1999, starred Fraser as treasure hunter who travels to Egypt in the 1920s with a spunky librarian, played by Weisz, only to accidentally awaken a supernaturally powerful high priest.—
Borys Kit,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Exports spiked; Americans awoke to the pleasures of their native whiskey.—
Adam Sachs,
Condé Nast Traveler,
28 Mar. 2026
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Americans awoke to another air traffic tragedy this week.—
Robert Poole,
Washington Post,
27 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Knock up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knock%20up. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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