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knock off

 [nok-awf, -of]   Origin

knock·off

   [nok-awf, -of]
noun
1.
an act or instance of knocking off.
2.
an unlicensed copy of something, especially fashion clothing, intended to be sold at a lower price than the original.
Also, knock-off.

Origin:
1870–75, for an earlier sense; noun use of verb phrase knock off

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Knock off is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
Dictionary.com Unabridged

knock

   [nok]
verb (used without object)
1.
to strike a sounding blow with the fist, knuckles, or anything hard, especially on a door, window, or the like, as in seeking admittance, calling attention, or giving a signal: to knock on the door before entering.
2.
to strike in collision; bump: He knocked into a table.
3.
to make a pounding noise: The engine of our car is knocking badly.
4.
Informal. to engage in trivial or carping criticism; find fault.
5.
Cards. to end a game, as in gin rummy, by laying down a hand in which those cards not included in sets total less than a specific amount.
verb (used with object)
6.
to give a sounding or forcible blow to; hit; strike; beat.
7.
to drive, force, or render by a blow or blows: to knock a man senseless.
8.
to make by striking a blow or blows: to knock a hole in the wall.
9.
to strike (a thing) against something else.
10.
Informal. to criticize, especially in a carping manner: He's always knocking everything.
EXPAND
11.
British Slang. to astound; impress greatly.
COLLAPSE
noun
12.
an act or instance of knocking.
13.
the sound of knocking, especially a rap, as at a door.
14.
a blow or thump.
15.
Informal. an adverse criticism.
16.
the noise resulting from faulty combustion or from incorrect functioning of some part of an internal-combustion engine.
EXPAND
17.
Cricket. an innings.
18.
British Slang.
a.
one of a combination of dealers who bid together, rather than against each other, at an auction, and later resell the purchases among themselves.
b.
an auction at which this is done.
c.
the sale of merchandise recently obtained by a dealer at an auction.
COLLAPSE
Verb phrases
19.
knock around/about, Informal.
a.
to wander aimlessly or idly; loaf.
b.
to mistreat (someone), especially physically.
c.
to jar; shake up.
20.
knock back, Slang. to drink (a beverage), especially quickly and heartily: He knocked back two shots of vodka.
21.
knock down,
a.
to sell at auction by a blow of the hammer or to a bidder.
b.
to take apart or disassemble, as for facility in handling, storing, shipping, etc.
c.
Slang. to receive, as a salary or a scholastic grade; earn: He knocks down 30 grand a year.
d.
Informal. to lower the price of; reduce: to knock down end-of-season leftovers.
e.
Slang. to embezzle or steal (money).
f.
to cause (a sailing vessel) to heel, as by a gust of wind, to such a degree that it cannot right itself.
22.
knock off,
a.
Informal. to cease activity, especially work: to knock off at five every day.
b.
to stop doing something; quit: Knock it off or you'll get into a mess.
c.
Slang. to dispose of; finish.
d.
Slang. to murder; kill.
e.
Slang. to die.
f.
Slang. to get rid of; reduce.
g.
Slang. to disable or defeat.
h.
Slang. to commit a robbery at; steal from: The gang knocked off a gas station.
i.
Nautical Slang. to blow the head (of a sailing vessel) off the wind.
j.
to imitate, copy, or plagiarize: to knock off designer dresses in cheap materials.
23.
knock out,
a.
to defeat (an opponent) in a boxing match by striking such a blow that the opponent is unable to rise within the specified time.
b.
to render (a person) unconscious: Those sleeping pills knocked me out for ten hours.
c.
to make tired or exhausted: Christmas shopping always knocks me out.
d.
Informal. to produce quickly, hurriedly, or with ease: He knocks out two poems a day.
e.
to damage or destroy: The explosion knocked out the power for several hours.
f.
knock (def. 28).
EXPAND
24.
knock over,
a.
to strike (someone or something) from an erect to a prone position: to knock over a lamp.
b.
to distress; overcome: When the announcement came we were completely knocked over.
c.
Slang. to rob, burglarize, or hijack: He knocked over five banks.
25.
knock together, to make or construct in a hurry or with little attention to detail: He knocked together a couple of tables.
26.
knock up,
a.
Slang. to make pregnant.
b.
to exhaust; weary; tire.
c.
to damage; mar: The children knocked up the new table.
d.
to injure; wound: He was afraid to come home from school all knocked up again.
e.
British. to wake up; rouse; call: He knocked us up before dawn.
COLLAPSE
Idioms
27.
have it knocked, Slang. to be assured of success: With a government job, he thought he had it knocked.
28.
knock out of the box, Baseball. to cause a pitcher to be removed from the box because the pitcher has permitted too many hits to be made. Also, knock out.
29.
knock the/one's socks off, Informal. to have an overwhelming effect on: The song knocked the socks off the audience.
Origin:
before 1000; 1890–95 for def. 4; Middle English knokken, knoken (v.), Old English cnocian, cnucian; cognate with Old Norse knoka to thump, knock

Related forms
knock·less, adjective
re·knock, verb
un·knocked, adjective
un·knock·ing, adjective

Synonyms
1. See strike.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To knock off
Collins
World English Dictionary
knock off
 
—vb
1.  informal (intr, also preposition) to finish work: we knocked off an hour early
2.  informal (tr) to make or do hastily or easily: to knock off a novel in a week
3.  informal (tr; also preposition) to reduce the price of (an article) by (a stated amount)
4.  slang (tr) to kill
5.  slang (tr) to rob or steal: to knock off a bank; to knock off a watch
6.  slang (tr) to stop doing something, used as a command: knock it off!
7.  slang (tr) to have sexual intercourse with; to seduce
 
—n
8.  informal
 a.  an illegal imitation of a well-known product
 b.  (as modifier): knockoff watches

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

knock
O.E. cnocian (W.Saxon cnucian), likely of imitative origin. Meaning "deprecate, put down" is from 1892. Knockoff "cheap imitation" is from 1966. Knock out "to stun by a blow for a 10-count" in boxing is short for to knock out of time; slang knockout "attractive person" is from 1892. To knock oneself
EXPAND
out "make a great effort" is from 1936. Knock-kneed first attested 1774. Command knock it off "stop it" is first recorded 1902. Knocker "door banger" is from 1598; knockers "a woman's breasts" is from 1941. Knock up is 1663 in sense of "arouse by knocking at the door;" however it is little used in this sense in Amer.Eng., where the phrase means "get a woman pregnant" (1813), possibly ult. from knock "to copulate with" (1598; cf. slang knocking-shop "brothel," 1860).
"Knocked up in the United States, amongst females, the phrase is equivalent to being enciente, so that Englishmen often unconsciously commit themselves when amongst our Yankee cousins." [John Camden Hotten, "The Slang Dictionary," London, 1860]
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

knock off (work) definition


  1. in.
    to quit work, for the day or for a break. : What time do you knock off work?
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source

knock (so) off definition


  1. tv.
    to kill someone. (Underworld. See also bump (so) off.) : The mob knocked the witnesses off.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source

knock (sth) off definition


  1. tv.
    to manufacture or make something, especially in haste. (See also knock sth together.) : I'll see if I can knock another one off before lunch.
  2. tv.
    to lower the price of something; to knock off some dollars or cents from the price of something. : The store manager knocked 30 percent off the price of the coat.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

knock off

  1. Take a break or rest from, stop, especially quit working. For example, He knocked off work at noon, or Let's knock off at five o'clock. [Colloquial; mid-1600s] Also see knock it off.

  2. Also, knock out. Dispose of or produce easily or hastily, finish, as in A writer of detective novels, he knocks off a book a year, or We can knock out a rough drawing in a few minutes. The first colloquial usage dates from the early 1800s, the variant from the mid-1800s.

  3. Get rid of, reduce, as in She knocked off twelve pounds in a month, or They knocked off one-third of the original price. [Colloquial; early 1800s]

  4. Kill, murder, as in They decided to knock off the old lady. [Slang; early 1900s] Also see knock someone's block off.

  5. Copy or imitate, especially without permission, as in They are knocking off designer Swiss watches and selling them for a few dollars. [Colloquial; late 1800s]

  6. Hold up, rob, as in The gang knocked off two liquor stores in half an hour. [Slang; early 1900s] Also see knock the socks off.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Matching Quote
"... women are supposed to be unfit to vote because they are hysterical and emotional and of course men would not like to have emotion enter into a political campaign. They want to cut out all emotion and so they would like to cut us out. I had heard so much about our emotionalism that I went to the last Democratic national convention, held at Baltimore, to observe the calm repose of the male politicians. I saw some men take a picture of one gentleman whom they wanted elected and it was so big they had to walk sidewise as they carried it forward; they were followed by hundreds of other men screaming and yelling, shouting and singing the "Houn' Dawg".... I saw men jump up on the seats and throw their hats in the air and shout: "What's the matter with Champ Clark?" Then, when those hats came down, other men would kick them back into the air, shouting at the top of their voices: "He's all right!!"... No hysteria about it—just patriotic loyalty, splendid manly devotion to principle. And so they went on and on until 5 o'clock in the morning—the whole night long. I saw men jump up on their seats and jump down again and run around in a ring. I saw two men run towards another man to hug him both at once and they split his coat up the middle of his back and sent him spinning around like a wheel. All this with the perfect poise of the legal male mind in politics! I have been to many women's conventions in my day but I never saw a woman leap up on a chair and take off her bonnet and toss it up in the air and shout: "What's the matter with" somebody. I never saw a woman knock another woman's bonnet off her head as she screamed, "She's all right!".... But we are willing to admit that we are emotional. I have actually seen women stand up and wave their handkerchiefs. I have even seen them take hold of hands and sing, "Blest be the tie that binds." Nobody doubts that women are excitable."
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