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Glite Dictionary
🤰 To make pregnant ⚡ To make quickly
to knock up

to knock up

1 6.7
To make something quickly and simply from things you have, like a shelter or meal
  • phrasal verb
  • /nɑk ʌp/
  • UK
translation icon : montar
  • Or you'll find yourself knocking up the wrong groupie and trading in your dream of a harmonica solo with Billy Gibbons to become the headmaster of a private academy.

Examples

  • That knocked up a little tin chute so we can wheelbarrow, tip down the hole.

  • I've got to knock up a trailer to drag my bike over to Bonneville.

    The World's Fastest Indian (2005)

  • Keep this gal knocked up and she'll make you a millionaire.

    Grace of My Heart (1996)

  • This cube-destruction thing is nothing that an A-Level programmer wouldn't be shy of knocking up as part of his coursework, but Mr. Molyneux is an old hand at this.

    Blog text (2)

  • We stop in Melide for more pulpe at lunchtime, and when we get to Arzua, I am designated to cook, so I knock up a spaghetti carbonara (to Nico's surprise, without cream).

    Blog text (12)

  • I need to knock up a quick presentation for the meeting tomorrow.

  • She can knock up a delicious meal from just a few ingredients.

  • He knocked up a temporary shelter using some old tarps and wooden beams.

Synonyms

to knock off
vsto knock up
  • Informal
4 6.1

Make something quickly with little effort

focuses on speed and low effort rather than improvised materials
to knock together
vsto knock up
  • UK
1 4.9

Make something quickly that will not last long

is the same action but stresses using available materials
to cobble up
vsto knock up
  • Informal
8.2

To make something quickly and roughly using what is available

focuses on quick simple preparation from improvised items
to clap up
vsto knock up
  • UK
9.8

To put something together quickly and without care

is similar but highlights using ready materials and simple methods
to whomp up
vsto knock up
  • Informal
9.5

Make a quick meal often from leftovers

applies to any quick simple preparation, not only food

Antonyms

to complicate
101 4.1

To make something harder to understand or do

How Quickly Made

to throw together
  • Informal
22 3.5
to cobble together
  • Informal
16 5.2
to knock up
  • UK
1 6.7
to put together
988 2.8
to prepare
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

knock + up

The meaning 'to make or prepare something quickly' is only partially derivable: the particle 'up' often signals completion/production and 'knock' can imply a quick action, but the precise sense of improvisational quick preparation is idiomatic and not directly predictable from the constituents. Additionally, the strong alternative meaning (particularly in American English) 'to impregnate' creates ambiguity for learners, reducing overall transparency.

Etymology

Knock up comes from the image of knock, to hit pieces together, and up, to finish, because people would quickly hit parts together to make a rough item. That's why it now means 'to make or prepare something quickly and simply'.