knock for a loop
knock for a loop verb: to astonish; to stagger or overwhelm; to confuse or disorient.
Verb
knock for a loop (third-person singular simple present knocks for a loop, present participle knocking for a loop, simple past and past participle knocked for a loop)
- To astonish; to stagger or overwhelm; to confuse or disorient.
- [Denham answered] "Gas bombs, Old Man! My own prescription. […] Gas bombs powerful enough to knock a row of elephants for a loop."1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 7
- [A] triple threat to the U.S. economy[…]has knocked stock prices for a loop.1967 November 17, “Wall Street: Big Casino”, in Time, archived from the original on 20 Jul 2014
- Synonyms:
- throw for a loop, throw off
Synonyms of knock for a loop
Forms of knock for a loop
| third-person singular present | knocks for a loop |
|---|---|
| present participle | knocking for a loop |
| past participle | knocked for a loop |
| past | knocked for a loop |
Questions about knock for a loop
- What does knock for a loop mean?
- Knock for a loop means to astonish; to stagger or overwhelm; to confuse or disorient.
- What part of speech is knock for a loop?
- Knock for a loop is a verb.
- What is the past tense of knock for a loop?
- The past tense of knock for a loop is knocked for a loop.
Words near knock for a loop in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: knock for a loop (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-knock for a loop.ogg.
Cite this entry: “knock for a loop.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/knock_for_a_loop. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.