knockout

See also: Knockout, knock-out, Knock-out, and knock out

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

    Deverbal from knock out.

    Pronunciation

    • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈnɒk.aʊt/
    • Audio (Southern England):(file)
    • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈnɑk.oʊt/

    Noun

    knockout (plural knockouts)

    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. The deactivation of anything.
      • 1989 February 6, Network World, page 82:
        Pull the plug on a node to see how the network handles a node knockout.
    3. (informal) Something 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. (informal) A very attractive person, especially a beautiful woman.
      Synonym: stunner
      • 1930, Dashiell Hammet, The Maltese Falcon, New York, N.Y.; London: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →OCLC, page 3:
        “There’s a girl wants to see you. Her name’s Wonderly.” “A customer?” “I guess so. You’ll want to see her anyway: she’s a knockout.”
      • 1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 183:
        "You’re asking too many questions. Look. You’re a cute kid. I mean, you’re a hell of a chick. You’re a knockout. But don’t go thinking you’re too important at this stage."
      • 1995, Rhonda K. Reinholtz, “Sexual Discourse and Sexual Intercourse”, in P. J. Kalbfleisch, M. J. Cody, editors, Gender, Power, and Communications in Human Relationships, Routledge, →ISBN, page 150:
        Phrases such as "she bowled me over," "she's striking," and "she's a knockout" suggest that the woman affects the man in ways he cannot mediate or control.
      • 2009 March 28, Angelique Chrisafis, “The mystery of the bikini-clad minister”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 October 2026:
        She was the "bikini-babe", "Sarkozette" stunna who never was. Paris was baffled this week when some of the British media began drooling over an old beach photograph of a former newsreader, Christine Kelly, whom they announced as Sarkozy's latest cabinet appointment—or rather "knockout lovely" or "oh yes, minister!".
    5. A partially punched opening meant for optional later removal.
      They left a knockout in the panel for running extra wires someday.
    6. (genetics) The deactivation of a particular gene.
    7. (genetics) A creature engineered with a particular gene deactivated.
    8. (printing) An event where a foreground color causes a background color not to print.
    9. (sports) A tournament in which a team or player must beat the opponent in order to progress to the next round.
      the knockout stages of the competition
      • 2011 November 3, Chris Bevan, “Rubin Kazan 1 – 0 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport‎[2], archived from the original on 26 August 2026:
        In truth, Tottenham never really looked like taking all three points and this defeat means they face a battle to reach the knockout stages -with their next home game against PAOK Salonika on 30 November likely to prove decisive.
    10. (uncountable) A simple game for two or more players, derived from basketball.
    11. (US, professional wrestling, capitalized) A woman in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
    12. Ellipsis of knockout auction.

    Derived terms

    Descendants

    • → Belarusian: нака́ўт (nakáwt)
    • → Portuguese: nocaute, knockout (unadapted spelling)
    • → Russian: нока́ут (nokáut)
    • → Spanish: nocaut
    • → Ukrainian: нока́ут (nokáut)
    • → Vietnamese: nốc ao

    Translations

    Adjective

    knockout (not comparable)

    1. Rendering someone unconscious.
      He delivered a knockout blow.
    2. Amazing; gorgeous; beautiful.
      You should have seen her knockout eyes.
      • 2010, Ro Martinez, Modeling at Any Age, page 81:
        If the same model has beautiful hair, white teeth, glowing skin, a fit body, good hands and legs, a great wardrobe, and a knockout comp, her value on the "bookability meter" goes sky high.
    3. (genetics) Designating an organism in which a particular gene has been removed or deactivated.
      • 1999, Matt Ridley, Genome, Harper Perennial, published 2004, page 255:
        The result is a so-called knockout mouse, reared with a single gene silenced, the better to reveal that gene's true purpose.
    4. Causing elimination from a competition.
      • 2012, Ben Smith, “Leeds United 2-1 Everton”, in bbc.co.uk‎[3]:
        Rodolph Austin delivered the knockout blow from close range 20 minutes from time, after Aidan White had given Leeds a dream start after four minutes.

    Translations

    Portuguese

    Etymology

    Etymology tree
    English knock outdeverb.
    English knockoutubor.
    Portuguese knockout

      Unadapted borrowing from English knockout.

      Noun

      knockout m (plural knockouts)

      1. alternative spelling of nocaute

      Further reading

      Romanian

      Etymology

      Etymology tree
      English knock outdeverb.
      English knockoutubor.
      French knock-outbor.
      ▲
      English knockoutbor.
      Romanian knockout

        Borrowed from French knock-out or English knockout.

        Noun

        knockout n (plural knockouturi)

        1. (sports) knockout

        Declension

        singular plural
        indefinite definite indefinite definite
        nominative-accusative knockout knockoutul knockouturi knockouturile
        genitive-dative knockout knockoutului knockouturi knockouturilor
        vocative knockoutule knockouturilor

        Swedish

        Etymology

        Borrowed from English knockout. Attested since 1921.

        Noun

        knockout c

        1. (sports, boxing) a knockout
          vinna på knockout
          win by knockout
          slå knockout på någon
          knock someone out
        2. (figuratively) a knockout (decisive victory or the like)

        Declension

        Declension of knockout
        nominative genitive
        singular indefinite knockout knockouts
        definite knockouten knockoutens
        plural indefinite knockouter knockouters
        definite knockouterna knockouternas

        See also

        References

        This page is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.