knock down
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See also: knockdown
English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file)
Verb
[edit]knock down (third-person singular simple present knocks down, present participle knocking down, simple past and past participle knocked down)
- (transitive) To hit or knock (something or someone), intentionally or accidentally, so that it falls.
- As I took the can off the shelf, I knocked down the one beside it.
- 1977, Sonny James (lyrics and music), “In the Jailhouse Now”, in Sonny James In Prison, In Person[1]:
- He was out tomcatting one night / When he started a big fight / And a big policeman came and knocked him down.
- 2012, Ingrid Michaelson (lyrics and music), “This Is War”, in Human Again[2]:
- I won't surrender / I will fight better / You lock me out, you knock me down / But I will find my way around
- (transitive) To demolish.
- We knocked down the garden shed when we moved.
- (transitive) At an auction, to declare (something) sold with a blow from the gavel.
- The picture was knocked down for £50.
- (transitive, informal) To reduce the price of.
- They knocked it down by another £5, so we bought it.
- (transitive, informal) To drink fast.
- I love to go down the pub and knock down pints of lager.
- (transitive, usually passive voice) To disassemble for shipment.
- The furniture is shipped knocked down, so assembly is required.
- (transitive) To approve a drinking toast by banging glasses on the table.
- 1954, H. C. N. de Lanerolle, "Well, Mudaliyar!" and Other Plays (page 179)
- They click their glasses and knock down the toast.
- 1954, H. C. N. de Lanerolle, "Well, Mudaliyar!" and Other Plays (page 179)
- (dated, trains) To send a stop signal to ensure a train is signalled to stop at the correct point.
Synonyms
[edit]- (hit or knock (something) so that it falls): knock over
- (demolish): demolish, destroy
- (declare something sold at an auction with a blow from the gavel): sell
- (reduce the price of): reduce
Translations
[edit]hit or knock (something) so that it falls
|
demolish — see demolish
declare something sold at an auction with a blow from the gavel
reduce the price of
References
[edit]- (approve a toast by banging glasses on the table): 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary