Word.ws English Dictionary

knockback

knockback noun: a blow that causes the recipient to fall or move backwards, a knock back; a recoil.

Noun

knockback (plural knockbacks)

  1. A blow that causes the recipient to fall or move backwards, a knock back; a recoil.
    • He lifted his hand in a knockback spell, which would send me sailing right into the zombie.2006, Kelley Armstrong, Broken, unnumbered page
  2. Something that impedes or reverses progress; a setback.
    • […]the chemo had not worked and had gone back into his brain.[…]He had knockback after knockback. It would have taken its toll on anyone.2011, Lee Hobin, God, Why Are You Being So Cruel?, page 188
    • Despite all the knockbacks from COVID, as an industry we are ready for the turnaround and more than ready to welcome back passengers returning from lockdown.2021 September 22, Clive Nicholls, “National Rail Awards 2021”, in RAIL, number 940, page 35
  3. (Australia, UK, informal) A rejection; a refusal.
    • He got a few knockbacks today when he tried to give his resume out at the local shops.
    • The only other knockback in the Port Kembla-Wollongong district was from Benny Westwood of the Advance Tyre Service. He, too, ordered us off the premises.1987, Rupert Lockwood, War on the Waterfront: Menzies, Japan, and the Pig-Iron Dispute, page 199

Examples of knockback in a sentence

  • They asked matter-of-fact questions about harrowing tales that the victims had been trying to tell other media outlets, only to receive knockback after knockback for more than a year.2010, Chris Rau, Dealing With the Media: A Handbook for Students, Activists, Community Groups and Anyone Who Can′t Afford a Spin Doctor...
  • Nicole Kidman got a knockback because Su-Man was too busy whipping a certain Oscar-winning French actress into shape.2010, Tony Parsons, Tony Parsons on Life, Death and Breakfast, unnumbered page:

Forms of knockback

pluralknockbacks
alternative formknock-back

Origin of knockback

Deverbal from knock back.

Questions about knockback

What does knockback mean?
Knockback means a blow that causes the recipient to fall or move backwards, a knock back; a recoil.
How do you use knockback in a sentence?
They asked matter-of-fact questions about harrowing tales that the victims had been trying to tell other media outlets, only to receive knockback after knockback for more than a year.
What part of speech is knockback?
Knockback is a noun.
What is the plural of knockback?
The plural of knockback is knockbacks.

Words near knockback in the dictionary

  1. knockabout
  2. knockabouts
  3. Knockagh
  4. Knockando
  5. knockaround
  6. knockback
  7. knockbacks
  8. knockbuster
  9. knockbusters
  10. Knockcloghrim
  11. Knockcroghery

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: knockback (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.

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Cite this entry: “knockback.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/knockback. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.