A-Z Database
see With bells/knobs on
To knock meaning the act of copulation dates from at least the 16th century, whereas to knock meaning to deprecate or find fault with is American from...
In the sense of wandering or loitering around in an aimless or carefree manner, dates from the late 19th century.
Knock down ginger is the name of a children’s street game dating from the early 19th century where children knock on doors and then run away before th...
see Cocked hat
see Lick into shape
Meaning to desist or refrain from doing or saying something is an American idiom from the late 19th century.
To knock off work i.e. to stop working, dates from the mid-1600s. To knock something off can mean to do something hastily and without precision, and d...
see Touch/Touching wood
see Knock someone’s socks off
To knock someone for a loop is to astound or amaze someone, but it can also signify a physical assault, depending on the context. This expression is A...
To knock or hit someone for six means to astound, amaze or flabbergast someone and in this figurative sense dates from the late 19th/early 20th centur...
Means to punch or to hit someone very hard. The expression is American and dates from around 1836.
Block has been slang for head since the early 1600s but this idiom dates from the late 19th/ early 20th century. See also Blockhead.
In the mid-19th century, this expression was originally connected with brawling, when fist fights could be so fierce that some protagonists would lite...