Word.ws English Dictionary

not know what hit one

not know what hit one verb: to be extremely surprised by an event.

Verb

not know what hit one

  1. (idiomatic, slang) To be extremely surprised by an event.
    • She didn't know what hit her when her boyfriend broke up with her.
    • My friend didn't know what had hit him when I poured a bucket of water over his head.

Questions about not know what hit one

What does not know what hit one mean?
Not know what hit one means to be extremely surprised by an event.
What part of speech is not know what hit one?
Not know what hit one is a verb.

Words near not know what hit one in the dictionary

  1. not in the slightest
  2. not invented here
  3. not just a pretty face
  4. not just another pretty face
  5. not know one is born
  6. not know what hit one
  7. not know what one is missing
  8. not know where to turn
  9. not know whether one is coming or going
  10. not know whether to shit or go blind
  11. not know whether to spit or go blind

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: not know what hit one (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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