knocking

verb

Definition of knockingnext
present participle of knock
1
as in bumping
to come into usually forceful contact with something my knee knocked against the table leg when I tried to get up quickly

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in hitting
to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner threatened to knock him upside the head if he didn't do as he was told

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in blaming
to express one's unfavorable opinion of the worth or quality of hey, don't knock it until you've tried it

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for knocking
  1. bumping
  2. hitting
  3. slamming
  4. criticizing
  5. condemning
  6. colliding
  7. punching
  8. denouncing
Verb
  • Stock market valuations - The meme stock games that began in 2021 are stretched, the artificial intelligence bubble is bumping into realities, and the hundreds of walking dead companies are stumbling towards oblivion.
    John S. Tobey, Forbes, 10 Dec. 2024
  • The team Little Pocket Monsters ultimately answered with the correct title, bumping its total score to 20,200 after the question.
    Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 4 Dec. 2024
Definition of bumping
Verb
  • As a team, the Trojans capitalized on their opportunities at the free-throw line, hitting 22 of 25 attempts, while the Bulldogs only made six trips to the stripe.
    Anthony De Leon, Los Angeles Times, 11 Dec. 2024
  • Despite the heavy-hitting lineup, none of the above felt remotely corporate, overly earnest, or organized within an inch of its life, as so many charity events are.
    Vogue, Vogue, 11 Dec. 2024
Definition of hitting
Verb
  • The cabinets themselves all come with soft-close doors with magnets, so owners don’t have to worry about them slamming or accidentally opening while hitting bumps on the road.
    Lennie Omalza, The Courier-Journal, 5 Dec. 2024
  • Hurricane Beryl became the first Category 4 hurricane on record to form in the month of June, slamming into the island of Carriacou in Grenada.
    ISABELLA O’MALLEY AND MARY KATHERINE WILDEMAN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, arkansasonline.com, 30 Nov. 2024
Definition of slamming
Verb
  • Making it in Russia while criticizing Vladimir Putin?
    Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Dec. 2024
  • The words echo Delay, Deny, Defend, the title of a 2010 book criticizing the insurance industry.
    Andrea Marks, Rolling Stone, 10 Dec. 2024
Definition of criticizing
Verb
  • Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar are condemning Israel’s deployment into Golan Heights, a plateau about 40 miles southwest of Damascus.
    Matthew Lee, Los Angeles Times, 10 Dec. 2024
  • Immediately following the killing, in contrast to those condemning the murder, many on social media aired frustration and anger toward UnitedHealthcare and the private healthcare industry in general.
    James Factora, Them, 10 Dec. 2024
Definition of condemning
Verb
  • Those protons colliding with electrons or antineutrinos no longer produce neutrons, and neutrinos and positrons that collide with neutrons no longer produce protons; the period of protons and neutrons interconverting into one another has ended.
    Big Think, Big Think, 10 Dec. 2024
  • Flaco, a Eurasian eagle-owl who last year fled from his enclosure at the Central Park Zoo to the hard streets of Manhattan, died in February after colliding with a building on the Upper West Side.
    Naomi Fry, The New Yorker, 7 Dec. 2024
Definition of colliding
Verb
  • Advertisement In 2022, a woman filed for a restraining order against Sweeting, accusing her of punching her repeatedly in the head and kicking her in the chest.
    Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 11 Dec. 2024
  • During an interview with detectives, Lambeth admitted to punching, stomping and strangling Howells, court documents stated.
    Lauren De Young, The Arizona Republic, 6 Dec. 2024
Definition of punching
Verb
  • Thousands have since taken to the streets, denouncing an assault on democracy.
    Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 28 Nov. 2024
  • Texas Governor Greg Abbott responded to a doctor's viral video denouncing a requirement for hospitals to collect immigrant patient data by appearing to threaten to withdraw funding.
    Dan Perry, Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2024
Definition of denouncing
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near knocking

knock for a loop

knocking

knocking (about)

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Knocking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knocking. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

More from Merriam-Webster on knocking

Nglish: Translation of knocking for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of knocking for Arabic Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

Point of View: It's Personal

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Words You Always Have to Look Up
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
naughty or nice
Are you naughty or nice? Quiz He's making a quiz, and checking it twice...