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knockout

/ˈnɑk.oʊt/noun, adjective

knockout is spelled K-N-O-C-K-O-U-T: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 4.1 times per million words in written English, the 12,764th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, knockout means “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” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of knockout is knockouts.

How many letters and syllables are in knockout?

Letters8: K-N-O-C-K-O-U-T
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing4.1 times per million words; the 12,764th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is knockout?

Knockout appears 4.1 times per million words in written English, the 12,764th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce knockout?

  • UK /ˈnɒk.aʊt/
  • US /ˈnɑk.oʊt/

Knockout has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-knockout.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with knockout

Also written: knock-out (one word or two).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of knockout

  • knockouts plural
  • knock-out

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does knockout mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 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.

    The boxer scored a knockout on his opponent.

  2. 2

    The deactivation of anything.

  3. 3

    informalSomething wildly popular, entertaining, or funny.

    If you've ever had a sack race, you know it's a real knockout for kids and adults alike.

  4. 4

    informalA very attractive person, especially a beautiful woman.

  5. 5

    A partially punched opening meant for optional later removal.

    They left a knockout in the panel for running extra wires someday.

  6. 6

    The deactivation of a particular gene.

  7. 7

    A creature engineered with a particular gene deactivated.

  8. 8

    An event where a foreground color causes a background color not to print.

adjective

  1. 1

    Rendering someone unconscious.

    He delivered a knockout blow.

  2. 2

    Amazing; gorgeous; beautiful.

    You should have seen her knockout eyes.

  3. 3

    Designating an organism in which a particular gene has been removed or deactivated.

  4. 4

    Causing elimination from a competition.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Knockout in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
FrenchKO, knock-out (act of making someone unconscious), incapacitant, assommant (Rendering someone unconscious)
Portuguesenocaute (act of making someone unconscious), lindo, deslumbrante (Stunning; amazing; gorgeous)
Spanishnocaut (act of making someone unconscious), despampanante (Stunning; amazing; gorgeous)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does knockout come from?

Deverbal from knock out.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after knockout