knock on wood
UK/ˌnɒk ɒn ˈwʊd//ˌnɑk ɑn ˈwʊd/
knock on wood verb: to take a customary action to ward off some misfortune that is believed to be attracted by a presumptuous statement.
Verb
knock on wood (third-person singular simple present knocks on wood, present participle knocking on wood, simple past and past participle knocked on wood)
- To take a customary action to ward off some misfortune that is believed to be attracted by a presumptuous statement.
- Synonyms:
- touch wood
Interjection
- Hopefully; a self-directive to undertake the customary action to ward off bad luck.
- I do a lot of walking, and I have never had any knee problems yet, knock on wood.
- Synonyms:
- touch wood
knock on wood meaning in Hindi, Malay and Indonesian
knock on wood in Hindi
- knock on wood, touch wood
- चश्म-ए-बद दूर caśm-e-bad dūr
knock on wood in Malay
- hopefully; used when undertaking such a customary action
- choi
knock on wood in Indonesian
- to take a customary action to ward off misfortune
- amit-amit
- hopefully; used when undertaking such a customary action
- amit-amit
Synonyms of knock on wood
Forms of knock on wood
| third-person singular present | knocks on wood |
|---|---|
| present participle | knocking on wood |
| past participle | knocked on wood |
| past | knocked on wood |
Origin of knock on wood
From a folk practice of unclear origin.
Questions about knock on wood
- What does knock on wood mean?
- Knock on wood means to take a customary action to ward off some misfortune that is believed to be attracted by a presumptuous statement.
- What is knock on wood in Hindi?
- Knock on wood in Hindi is चश्म-ए-बद दूर (caśm-e-bad dūr). See Knock on wood meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is knock on wood?
- Knock on wood can be a verb or an interjection.
- How do you pronounce knock on wood?
- Knock on wood is pronounced /ˌnɒk ɒn ˈwʊd/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of knock on wood?
- The past tense of knock on wood is knocked on wood.
Words near knock on wood in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: knock on wood (page history and authors); चश्म-ए-बद दूर (Hindi) (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-us-knock on wood.ogg, en-au-knock on wood.ogg.
Cite this entry: “knock on wood.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/knock_on_wood. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.