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Glite Dictionary
💫 To make unconscious 🔨 To destroy 🚫 To eliminate 🤩 To impress greatly
to knock out

to knock out

18 4.7
To impress someone strongly so they feel admiration
  • phrasal verb
  • /nɑk aʊt/
  • Informal
translation icon : impresionar
  • Her stunning performance in the play really knocked out the audience, leaving them in awe.
  • knocked it out of the park
  • really knocked me out
  • just knocked me out

And dude, they knocked it out of the park.

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Examples

  • And I was really knocked out by the eloquence.

    No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005)

  • But after I gave it a listen, she really knocked me out.

    Up in the Air (2009)

  • Girl, you knock me out 4'

    Aloha (2015)

  • Microsoft has never delivered a tablet before, and they absolutely knocked it out of the park.

    Blog text (19)

  • I would say you've knocked this one out of the park.

    Blog text (22)

  • Everybody, literally everybody who's read it has been knocked out.

    You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010)

  • Amy and the other commentators knocked this out of the park.

    Blog text (4)

  • FWIW, I saw Lincoln last week and was thoroughly knocked out.

    Blog text (33)

  • Guest star Kenney-Silver knocks it out of the park with her portrayal of the therapist.

    Blog text (9)

  • Chloë Grace Moretz will knock it out of the park in a couple of years—you'll see.

    Blog text (19)

Synonyms

to knock for a loop
vsto knock out
  • Informal
1 8.7

To surprise someone very much and leave them speechless

produces admiration or strong liking rather than just shock or surprise
to knock flat
vsto knock out
1 7.4

To surprise someone very much so they cannot react

can mean emotional admiration or attraction instead of sudden physical stun
to knock over with a feather
vsto knock out
  • Informal
1 8.8

To be so surprised that you almost cannot react

expresses strong admiration or attraction rather than mere astonishment
to sweep off someone's feet
vsto knock out
  • Informal
4.5

Make someone feel very impressed and strongly attracted

is about strong admiration or attraction rather than only general impressing
to knock out of the box
vsto knock out
  • Informal
8.0

To impress many people by doing something very well

focuses on causing strong admiration or emotional overwhelm rather than success
to blow the pants off
vsto knock out
  • Informal
8.8

To make someone very impressed or be much better than something

creates admiration or attraction rather than merely outperforming others

Antonyms

to disappoint
492 1.0

Fail to do what someone hoped for

to bore
15 1.4

To make someone feel tired or not interested by being dull when you speak

How Impressive

to blow your mind
  • Informal
50 6.2
to amaze
294 1.0
to knock out
  • Informal
18 4.7
to impress
457 2.8
to please
216 1.0

Surface Forms

knock out infinitive
knocked out past
knocked out past participle
knocking out present participle
knocks out third person singular

Morphology

knock + out

The literal sense 'to render unconscious' is transparently built from 'knock' (to strike) + 'out' (into an unconscious state), and the figurative sense 'to impress or overwhelm' is a metaphorical extension of that physical impact. This metaphorical transfer is partially predictable but not fully obvious to a B1 learner who has not encountered the idiomatic use, so the expression is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Knock out — The sense 'to impress' comes from the image of being stunned or overwhelmed, as if a great show or person has hit you hard and left you speechless. That's why knock out is also used to mean 'to impress or overwhelm someone greatly'.