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knockout

noun · adjective

Simple meaning

Making one unconscious, or at least unable to come back on one's feet within a certain period of time.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

nahkowt

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈnɑkaʊt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The act of making one unconscious, or at least unable to come back on one's feet within a certain period of time; a TKO.

  2. informal

    A very attractive or seductive looking woman

  3. informal

    A very attractive person, especially a beautiful woman.

  4. A partially punched opening meant for optional later removal.

  5. The deactivation of anything.

  6. An auction where most of the bidders are secretly shills.

adjective

  1. Rendering someone unconscious.

  2. Amazing; gorgeous; beautiful.

  3. Causing elimination from a competition.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: The act of making one unconscious, or at least unable to come back on one's feet within a certain period of time; a TKO.

Used this way, knockout is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Partially

knockout punch

Tournament

receptor knockoutround knockout

Other combinations

gene knockoutknockout mouseknockout blowdouble knockoutreal knockout

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • knockout dropsnounCompound term

    Chloral hydrate in combination with alcohol.

  • knockout punchnounCompound term

    A hard punch that renders the opponent unable to continue boxing.

  • technical knockoutnounCompound term

    A knockout declared by the referee who judges one boxer unable to continue.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.