to knock together
1
4.9
- phrasal verb
- UK
:
armar
- Anyhow, here is a quick Google site I knocked together to dump the first part of the MS into for anyone interested in giving it the once-over.
Examples
-
Out of desperation, I knocked together a writing table for him using leftover wood.
-
Alec Wardlaw had knocked together from their packing crate.
Fiction book (1996) -
Practically everybody with a modem and two brain cells to knock together has his or her own theory about what's going on.
Fiction book (1996) -
During the winter, I carried my Savage .30-06 to the woods and brought home venison to set on the pine table I'd knocked together.
Fiction book (1996) -
1000 AD leaves me with a 500-year head start on the Renaissance, and about 300 on Giotto, who "invented" perspective in paintings, so I think I could knock together some pretty decent sketches.
Blog text (24) -
You have spent the past week knocking together a coop from old wooden crates and branches.
-
Inside, Carl has knocked together a small plank bed and several shelves for extra storage.
Synonyms
988
2.8
To make something by joining parts, like a model, plan or team
22
3.5
Make something quickly without much care or planning
21
5.3
To put things together quickly and roughly using what is available
16
5.2
Make something quickly and roughly from things you have
3
6.0
Make something quickly without caring about details
1
6.7
To make something quickly and simply from things you have, like a shelter or meal
1
6.5
To gather small amounts of money, food, or a few people with difficulty to do something
To make something quickly and roughly using what is available
To make something quickly and without care using what you have
To put something together quickly and without care
Make something quickly and carelessly using what you have
To join parts quickly in a careless, temporary way
To make a clumsy temporary fix quickly
To get a small amount of something quickly with little money or time
Antonyms
How Quickly Made
- Informal
22
3.5
- UK
1
4.9
988
2.8
201
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'assemble/prepare quickly' is related to a literal image of putting parts together by knocking them into place, so a learner who knows 'knock' and 'together' can plausibly infer a general meaning. However, the specific idiomatic nuance of quickly and makeshift assembly is an extended/metaphorical use of 'knock' and not fully predictable without exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The expression knock together may come from the picture of someone using a hammer to knock pieces together to make a quick shelf or box. So it now means 'to make or prepare something quickly, often in a simple or not perfect way'.