as in wearing
to use up all the physical energy of
the entire staff knocked itself out getting the project finished on time
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Recent Examples of knocking out
So the club is expanding — moving the stage, knocking out a partition and growing from around 80 seats to between 130 and 140.
—
Charlotte Observer, 23 June 2026
Multiple tornadoes tore through Illinois and Indiana Sunday, killing at least two people as severe thunderstorms continue to sweep through the Midwest early Monday, knocking out power for tens of thousands across the region.
—Briana Waxman, CNN Money, 22 June 2026
The day shift finally starts taking group photos, knocking out their letters rapidly, and moving on to task 4 simultaneously.
—Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 16 June 2026
The Jubail petrochemical and industrial complex in Saudi Arabia is offline, knocking out a key world reservoir of resin.
—Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 8 June 2026
The strong winds brought down trees, knocking out power to tens of thousands of people.
—Madeline Bartos, CBS News, 8 June 2026
Strong to severe thunderstorms with brilliant lightning and booming thunder swept through the Kansas City area early Monday, knocking out power to thousands and downing some trees and limbs in the metro.
—Kansas City Star, 1 June 2026
But for those operating in the gray area—long lunches, two-hour walks, knocking out their latest DIY project while their Slack status stays green—AI adoption is not their friend.
—Robert Henderson, Forbes.com, 20 May 2026
Communities across the Upper Midwest are cleaning up after tornadoes and severe weather impacted the region over the weekend, damaging and destroying dozens of homes and knocking out power for tens of thousands.
—Chandelis Duster, NPR, 19 Apr. 2026
Charlotte Observer, 23 June 2026
Multiple tornadoes tore through Illinois and Indiana Sunday, killing at least two people as severe thunderstorms continue to sweep through the Midwest early Monday, knocking out power for tens of thousands across the region.
—Briana Waxman, CNN Money, 22 June 2026
The day shift finally starts taking group photos, knocking out their letters rapidly, and moving on to task 4 simultaneously.
—Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 16 June 2026
The Jubail petrochemical and industrial complex in Saudi Arabia is offline, knocking out a key world reservoir of resin.
—Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 8 June 2026
The strong winds brought down trees, knocking out power to tens of thousands of people.
—Madeline Bartos, CBS News, 8 June 2026
Strong to severe thunderstorms with brilliant lightning and booming thunder swept through the Kansas City area early Monday, knocking out power to thousands and downing some trees and limbs in the metro.
—Kansas City Star, 1 June 2026
But for those operating in the gray area—long lunches, two-hour walks, knocking out their latest DIY project while their Slack status stays green—AI adoption is not their friend.
—Robert Henderson, Forbes.com, 20 May 2026
Communities across the Upper Midwest are cleaning up after tornadoes and severe weather impacted the region over the weekend, damaging and destroying dozens of homes and knocking out power for tens of thousands.
—Chandelis Duster, NPR, 19 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for knocking out
Verb
-
As an adult, Aemond is vicious, tactical and easily identifiable by wearing an eye patch over a blue glass ball where his eye used to be.—
Skyler Trepel,
PEOPLE,
22 June 2026
-
The offender is described as an African-American man between 40-45 years of age, weighing 180-200 pounds, and was last seen wearing a gray/black baseball cap, a light blue shirt, gray pants, and black gym shoes.—
Jeramie Bizzle,
CBS News,
22 June 2026
Verb
-
In January 2024, Mansfield confessed to killing 18-year-old Carol Ann Barrett more than four decades earlier.—
Greg Wehner,
FOXNews.com,
24 June 2026
-
He is accused of killing a man on March 13, 2022, Broward court records show.—
Sofia Saric
June 23,
Miami Herald,
24 June 2026
Verb
-
Naval forces are increasingly looking for ways to defeat large numbers of drones without exhausting expensive missile inventories.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
20 June 2026
-
The Spurs seemed emotionally spent after exhausting all of their energy in unseating the defending champions.—
Mark Medina,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2026
Verb
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In the Los Angeles Times, Seema Mehta and Nicole Nixon report that Steyer’s ability to appear everywhere ended up tiring out voters.—
David Weigel,
semafor.com,
10 June 2026
-
Meanwhile, Shenzhen startup EngineAI can be forgiven for tiring out its PM01 humanoid.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
7 June 2026
Verb
-
Having a system in place can help entrepreneurs hit ambitious goals without burning out the company or the people in it.—
Laura Jayne Waters,
Forbes.com,
27 May 2026
-
And the difference between making a career and building a flywheel is the difference between burning out at year ten and still going at year thirty.—
Daren Smith,
IndieWire,
27 May 2026
Verb
-
One is something breaking, something wearing out, something being damaged through use, and then there’s also collision.—
Joel Feder,
The Drive,
10 June 2026
-
As plastics break down, whether that be through washing polyester clothing or wearing out our tires, microscopic particles of plastic shed, small enough to be picked up and transported by the air.—
Simmone Shah,
Time,
7 May 2026
Verb
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The heavy rain, fueled in part by the remnants of Tropical Storm Arthur, drenched much of the Southeast from Texas to the Florida Panhandle, causing flash flood emergencies, washing out roads, and prompting emergency rescues.—
Dinah Voyles Pulver,
USA Today,
20 June 2026
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In 1987, the Guadalupe surged near Comfort, washing out a bus and killing 10 teenagers on board.—
Karen Valby,
Vanity Fair,
16 June 2026
Verb
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Young people didn’t think these types of jobs paid enough money and felt the roles were often more emotionally draining than others.—
Avni Trivedi,
CNN Money,
24 June 2026
-
Both handhelds sipped power during Balatro, draining the battery at around 14W and 9W, respectively.—
Jay Peters,
The Verge,
23 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Knocking out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knocking%20out. Accessed 25 Jun. 2026.
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