knock off
"knock-off" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“knock off” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To halt one's work or other activity.
Corpus desk
Index EN-knock-off · knock off · English
knock off · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | knock off |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “knock off” in English
Rare enough to double-check
knock off is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 10 senses are on record.
knock off doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: In the verb sense of stopping work, said to be from the practice aboard slave galleys to have a man beat time for the rowers by knocking on a block or drum; when he stopped, the rowers could rest. The correct English form is knock off, spelled K-N-O-C-K- -O-F-F.
Definition
- 1To halt one's work or other activity.
- 2To kill.
- 3To kill.
- 4To remove, as a discount or estimate.
- 5To rob.
- 6To make a copy of, as of a design.
- 7To assign (an item) to a bidder at an auction, indicated by knocking on the counter.
- 8To have sex with (a woman).
- 9To accomplish hastily.
- 10To remove (something or someone) by hitting.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how knock off appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I think I'll knock off for the evening and go to bed.
Remember that this news was brought by the last steamer. That explains the stoppage of all communication, and the arrival of no more ships. We knocked off work a few days ago, and we're just waiting to see when things are to start afresh.
Etymology
In the verb sense of stopping work, said to be from the practice aboard slave galleys to have a man beat time for the rowers by knocking on a block or drum; when he stopped, the rowers could rest.
This word in other languages
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.