knock up

Definition of knock upnext
British
as in to wake
to cause to stop sleeping I asked the clerk at the hotel to knock me up at 7:00 a.m.

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of knock up The pair collided with such force that Dumoulin got knocked up about two feet in the air before landing hard on his padded backside. Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 27 Apr. 2026 Meanwhile, while Miranda busies herself with building a pageant empire, her husband Ray, a pill-popping nurse, has knocked up the 18-year-old granddaughter of one of his hospice patients. Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 28 Aug. 2025 Julia, worried, maintains that she’s not knocked up. Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 15 Aug. 2025 With 200 hp worth of empty space to play with before knocking up against the 600-hp V12 Verado, Mercury is dialing up the overall output of the V10 range by adding a new 425-hp variant as the flagship of the family. New Atlas, 12 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for knock up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for knock up
Verb
  • Join the dearly beloved under the stars for a reception worthy of the afterlife, with spirited DJ sets, drinks to wake the dead, and a free photobooth for your drop-dead gorgeous wedding portrait.
    Beatrice Verhoeven, HollywoodReporter, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Ensemble sitcoms live and die by their chemistry, so the cast — encouraged by Kronengold and Shaw — spend almost every waking moment together while filming.
    CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 25 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • This case has awakened debates about infanticide laws, which provide legal defenses only to mothers who kill their infant.
    Dr. Susan Hatters Friedman, Hartford Courant, 23 Aug. 2026
  • The co-creators had already hinted that after season 1, the subsequent installments would take the action back to 1935 and 1908, as the creature awakens from his sleep cycle every 27 years.
    Christopher Rudolph, PEOPLE, 22 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • The boy awoke at a family cottage in northern Ontario in 2024 with a bat resting across his nose and mouth.
    Anthony Thompson, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Newcastle yearned to win, to fulfil the dream awoken by Keegan — who died of cancer last month — and Isak was part of the team that finally did it, a languid forward with a kiss for a touch who scored at Wembley when Liverpool were beaten.
    George Caulkin, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Knock up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knock%20up. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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