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knock — to hit something, especially a door, with your knuckles or a hard object to attract attention

Part of speech: VERB

Definition: to hit something, especially a door, with your knuckles or a hard object to attract attention

Pronunciation (IPA): /nɑːk/

Example Sentences

  • The pizza delivery guy knocked so loudly that even the neighbors heard it.
  • She knocked three times - the secret code to enter the club.
  • My cat thinks it's polite to knock everything off my desk before I start working.

knock

VERB

[/nɑːk/]

to hit something, especially a door, with your knuckles or a hard object to attract attention

She heard a sudden knock on the wooden door late at night.
💡 Concept

She heard a sudden knock on the wooden door late at night.

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🎤Pronunciation

🇺🇸 US/nɑːk/
🇬🇧 UK/nɒk/

🌳Etymology

Rootknock

Origin

Derived from Middle English 'knokken', a word of onomatopoetic origin describing the act of striking or hitting with audible sound. The term reflects the natural linguistic tendency to represent percussive sounds through imitative vocalization.

Breakdown

knock- (imitative root representing a striking sound) + -en (Middle English verb infinitive marker). The root itself is purely onomatopoetic, with no further morphological decomposition.

🎵Rhyme

rock
clock
shock
block
dock

🔗Collocations

knock on the door
knock down
knock out
knock off
knock over
knock someone's socks off

📝Examples

😄 Fun example

“The pizza delivery guy knocked so loudly that even the neighbors heard it.”

“She knocked three times - the secret code to enter the club.”

😄 Fun example

“My cat thinks it's polite to knock everything off my desk before I start working.”

“Don't forget to knock before entering the boss's office.”

📚Related Words

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