Lexic.us

Definition of Knock off

1. Verb. Get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing. "They want to knock off the prisoners "; "The double agent was neutralized"

2. Verb. Cut the price of.

3. Verb. Take by theft. "Someone snitched my wallet!"

4. Verb. Write quickly. "Did he knock off his major works over a short period of time?"; "He scratched off a thank-you note to the hostess"

5. Verb. Stop pursuing or acting. "Knock it off!"

Definition of Knock off

1. Noun. (idiomatic) An imitation, especially one of poorer quality. ¹

2. Verb. (transitive) To bump or hit so that something falls off ¹

3. Verb. (idiomatic intransitive) To quit; stop doing work or other activity. The term originated from the practice aboard slave galleys to have a man beat time for the rowers by knocking on a block or drum; when he stopped, the rowers could rest. ¹

4. Verb. (idiomatic) To kill someone ¹

5. Verb. (idiomatic) To reduce or remove ¹

6. Verb. (idiomatic) To steal. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Knock Off

knock around knock back knock box knock boxes knock cold knock down knock for a loop knock into a cocked hat knock it off knock knee

knock knock knock knock joke knock knock jokes knock knocks knock off (current term) knock off someone's block knock on knock on wood knock out knock out of the box

knock over knock rummy knock someone's block off knock someone's socks off knock someone off his perch knock the living daylights out of knock together knock up

Literary usage of Knock off

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Writings of Mark Twain [pseud.] by Mark Twain, Charles Dudley Warner (1889)
"Do they knock off at noon ?" "knock off?" "knock off?—yes, knock off. What is the matter with knock off? I never saw such a dunderhead; can't you understand ..."

2. Modern Steam Engineering in Theory and Practice: A New, Complete, and by Gardner Dexter Hiscox, Newton Harrison (1907)
"As the latch on the bell-crank moves, it reaches a stationary knock- off cam, ... Hence, as soon as the knock-off cam causes the latch to release, ..."

3. A Cyclopædic Dictionary of the Mang'anja Language Spoken in British Central by David Clement Ruffelle Scott (1892)
"... knock the mat down to knock off the insects that infest it, a basket to knock out the flour that remains in it. Gwa I STRONG, FIRM, hard ; of the body ..."

Other Resources: