to knock off
7
8.4
- phrasal verb
- /nɑk ɔf/
- Slang
:
robar
- The police caught him after he attempted to knock off a convenience store.
- knock off a bank
- knock off a store
So they start bringing all the gear to me, say that they're knocking off.
- So they start bringing all the gear to me, say that they're knocking off.
Examples
-
He got arrested for trying to knock off a jewelry store last week.
-
Oh, so you steal the seal, and then you knock off nine royals?
-
I mean, the guy knocked off a case of Scotch a week.
-
You and your crew knocked off someone last night for 80 large.
-
Okay, a friend of mine knocked off an armored car.
-
He knocked off all those banks.
Fiction book (1993) -
Looks like the same guy knocked off - a gun dealer on the three-three last week.
-
We accidentally knocked off your partner here, and I know y'all gonna be real pissed about that.
-
Why don't you knock off a really juicy bank while I line up the medic?
Fiction book (1993) -
They just knocked off Lou Brackman.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Take something that does not belong to you without permission
184
8.8
To steal something quickly without the owner knowing
79
6.3
To steal something quickly without the owner knowing
58
8.4
To steal small things from someone's pocket or bag
39
5.0
To steal items from a shop while acting like a customer
19
9.0
Take something without permission, often quickly
16
6.5
To steal small things of little value, often a little at a time
15
4.6
To steal something secretly when no one is looking
7
6.6
To take someone else's ideas or work and use them as your own without permission
6
7.5
To take something that is not yours and carry it away without asking
5
7.9
To secretly take money from a business or charity for your own use
3
9.1
To steal something, especially quickly in a crowded place
2
8.0
To steal something quickly and secretly
Take something secretly without permission
Antonyms
How Serious
Surface Forms
Morphology
knock + off
The particle 'off' can signal cessation or removal, which gives a cue toward 'stop', but the verb 'knock' (to hit) does not independently convey stopping; the imperative use ('knock it off') is conversational and idiomatic. Because the meaning relies on a conventionalized phrasal-verb use rather than straightforward compositional semantics, a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words would likely need prior exposure to fully understand it.
Etymology
Knock off may come from the image of someone quickly knocking an item off a shelf and running away, taking it in one sudden move. So it came to mean 'to steal'.