knock up

Definition of knock upnext
British
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.

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for knock up
Verb
  • This season Sinatra wakes from her coma and faces a new obstacle in Jane (Nicole Brydon Bloom).
    Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2026
  • Customizing the fill to your preference prevents waking with a sore neck.
    Catherine Garcia, TheWeek, 6 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • Mother Earth has awakened after a mild-winter snooze.
    Mindy Schauer, Oc Register, 6 Mar. 2026
  • In the series premiere of Netflix’s Vladimir, Rachel Weisz awakens from troubled sleep to a cascade of texts, sighs deeply, and addresses the camera with pleading eyes.
    Judy Berman, Time, 5 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • Iranians awoke Sunday for the first time in decades without Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as their supreme leader after he was killed in US-Israeli strikes, a profound shift in the nation’s history.
    Kara Fox, CNN Money, 1 Mar. 2026
  • Americans awoke Saturday morning to the news that the United States and Israel had launched a series of strikes against Iran.
    Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 28 Feb. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Knock up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knock%20up. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.

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