knock out

phraseB22 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To knock out is to hit somebody so hard that they lose consciousness. One punch, and the fight is over.

Boxing gave us the noun knockout, abbreviated to KO, and the sporting sense of a knockout competition, where losing once means going out. It splits round an object. There are two more: knocking out work means producing it quickly, which is faintly dismissive, and something described as a knockout is stunningly attractive. Anaesthetic knocks a patient out in the medical sense.

Definitions of knock out

1phraseknock outTo render somebody unconscious with a blow.B2
“One punch will knock out most people.”
2phraseeliminateTo eliminate a team or player from a competition.B2
“They will knock out the holders in the third round.”

Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 22 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

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knock out

phraseB22 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To knock out is to hit somebody so hard that they lose consciousness. One punch, and the fight is over.

Definitions of knock out

1phraseknock outTo render somebody unconscious with a blow.B2
“One punch will knock out most people.”
2phraseeliminateTo eliminate a team or player from a competition.B2
“They will knock out the holders in the third round.”

Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 22 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word