Word.ws English Dictionary

knocking for a loop

knocking for a loop is the present participle and gerund of knock for a loop.

Meaning of knock for a loop

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)

  1. (idiomatic, transitive) 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

Questions about knocking for a loop

What is knocking for a loop the present participle and gerund of?
Knocking for a loop is the present participle and gerund of knock for a loop.

Words near knocking for a loop in the dictionary

  1. knocking dead
  2. knocking down
  3. knocking down a notch
  4. knocking down a peg
  5. knocking down to size
  6. knocking for a loop
  7. knocking in
  8. knocking into
  9. knocking into a cocked hat
  10. knocking into shape
  11. knocking it off

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: knocking for a loop (page history and authors); 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.

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Cite this entry: “knocking for a loop.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/knocking_for_a_loop. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.