knock down

Name: knock down, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

verb

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“knock down” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English: 10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To hit or collide with

Corpus desk

Index EN-knock-down · knock down · English

knock down · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
LEN-MEGA 10 letters
VOW-2 2 vowels
CONFUS-0 No pairs
VAR-0 0 variants
BOOK-THIN "K" thin
PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for knock down
Property	Value
Headword	knock down
Language	English
Part of speech	Verb
Letters	10
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “knock down” in English

knock downsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

knock down is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 17 senses are on record.

knock down doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is knock down, spelled K-N-O-C-K- -D-O-W-N.

Definition

1
To hit or collide with
2
To hit or collide with
3
To hit or collide with
4
To hit or collide with
5
To acquire money, especially illicitly
6
To acquire money, especially illicitly
7
To drink or party
8
To drink or party
9
To choose, declare or approve.
10
To choose, declare or approve.
11
To choose, declare or approve.
12
To choose, declare or approve.
13
To choose, declare or approve.
14
To choose, declare or approve.
15
To choose, declare or approve.
16
To send a stop signal to ensure a train is signalled to stop at the correct point.
17
To reduce the burning of (a fire), as by cooling it with water or dirt.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how knock down appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

As I took the can off the shelf, I knocked down the one beside it.
He was out tomcatting one night / When he started a big fight / And a big policeman came and knocked him down.

Synonyms

knock over demolish destroy sell reduce

This word in other languages

derribar(Español)renverser(Français)umwerfen(Deutsch)derrubar(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "knock down"?

"knock down" is spelled K-N-O-C-K- -D-O-W-N.

What does "knock down" mean?

As a verb, "knock down" means: To hit or collide with

What language does "knock down" come from?

"knock down" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.