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
  • In the middle of the night, as the floodwaters were rising, the dog woke her by shaking water off herself, giving the family enough time to climb a ladder onto the roof of their home just minutes before it was completely flooded.
    — Fabiola Sanchez, Chicago Tribune, 1 Oct. 2026
  • After the young widow stepped back behind the black curtains, where scoops of mint chocolate chip in disposable bamboo bowls drifted through a room of donors and White House staffers, the evening moved from celebration to wake.
    — Clara Molot, Vanity Fair, 29 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Played with exquisite, improbably expressive steeliness by Florence Pugh, Cathy does not awaken from nowhere as a predator.
    — Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026
  • That day in August, the woman was awakened by Ross, who was enraged by a photo she was tagged in on Instagram, according to Ross’ arrest report.
    — Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 1 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • The city awoke two days later to find almost 18,000 buildings destroyed, much of the city leveled, 90,000 people homeless and 300-some people dead.
    — Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Claire awoke the next day to a story about Campanis' comments in the newspaper.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 6 Oct. 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 9 Oct. 2026.

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