Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use knock in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Knock means an abrupt rapping sound, as from an impact of a hard object against wood. Example: “He took a knock on the head.”

Examples of knock by meaning

nounA sharp impact.

  • He took a knock on the head.

nounA criticism.

  • But, wow, do they take some knocks back home.2012 November 15, Tom Lamont, “How Mumford & Sons became the biggest band in the world”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 29...

nounA blow or setback.

  • This is a nasty knock for the Witch!1950, C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

nounA batsman's innings.

  • He had a good knock and scored well.

nounA ball hit into play, especially one that becomes a hit.

  • He played a slow but sure knock of 35.

verbTo rap one's knuckles against something, especially wood.

  • Knock on the door and find out if they’re home.

verbTo criticize verbally; to denigrate; to undervalue.

  • Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.
  • Sent out on an assignment to write up a roaring, hilarious, brilliant joshing story of—but I will not knock a brother—let us go on with the story.1910, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “The Thing’s the Play”, in Strictly Business: More Stories of the Four Million, New...
  • “And what do you care when some folks start knocking you?1952, Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, Penguin Books, published 2014, page 386

verbTo bump or impact.

  • I knocked against the table and bruised my leg.
  • I accidentally knocked my drink off the bar.
  • All you have to do is to knock the heels together three times and command the shoes to carry you wherever you wish to go."1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, chapter 23, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC

More sentences with knock

  • Nobody answered the door when I knocked, so I had no choice but to leave.From the entry but
  • She was listening to the radio when he knocked on the door.From the entry radio
  • The worst storm we had last winter knocked down our power lines.From the entry worst
  • Hammers are for knocking nails in, not for smashing my windows!From the entry for
  • The wind knocked the tree over last night. Bam! It nearly scared me to death.From the entry bam
  • I dropped a saucepan, which knocked over the eggs, which went all over the kitchen floor.From the entry which
  • After he knocked for hours, I decided to let him come in.From the entry let
  • In potting the yellow ball, he's knocked the green into play.From the entry play
  • I knocked off a couple of quick sketches before the design meeting.From the entry knock off
  • I think I'll knock off for the evening and go to bed.From the entry knock off
  • You wouldn't expect teenagers to sing opera, but these kids will knock your socks off.From the entry knock someone's socks off
  • The allergy pill knocked him out for a good three hours.From the entry knock out
  • The prisoner knocked out a message on the wall for the prisoner in the adjoining cell.From the entry knock out
  • Would you two please knock it off with the shouting? I'm trying to sleep.From the entry knock it off
  • Knock it off! This is the last time I'm telling you!From the entry knock it off
  • I knocked over a can of paint and spent the next hour cleaning up.From the entry knock over
  • It was known that he would knock his wife about when he had been drinking.From the entry knock about
  • I used to knock about with John when we were younger.From the entry knock about
  • I knocked on the door and an aged man opened it.From the entry aged
  • Don't worry about us; the storm knocked the power out, but we're all fine.From the entry fine
  • Be careful in the pen, that ram can knock you down with a butt.From the entry butt
  • As I took the can off the shelf, I knocked down the one beside it.From the entry knock down
  • They knocked it down by another £5, so we bought it.From the entry knock down
  • I'll just knock up a quick demo for the sales presentation.From the entry knock up
  • I guess his summer plans are shot now that he knocked his girlfriend up.From the entry knock up
  • Don't get flip with me or I'll knock you into next Tuesday!From the entry flip
  • I'll get round to it soonish. — Well, don't knock yourself out!From the entry don't knock yourself out
  • The drink splattered all over me, the table, and the floor when I knocked it over.From the entry splatter

Meaning of knock

  1. noun An abrupt rapping sound, as from an impact of a hard object against wood.
  2. noun A sharp impact.
  3. noun A criticism.

Full definition of knock

Questions about knock in a sentence

How do you use knock in a sentence?
Knock is used as a noun and verb. For example: “He took a knock on the head.”
What is a short sentence with knock?
“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.”
What does knock mean?
Knock means an abrupt rapping sound, as from an impact of a hard object against wood.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: knock (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use knock in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/knock. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.