knockout

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(nŏk'out') pronunciation
n.
    1. The act of knocking out.
    2. The state of being knocked out.
    3. A blow that knocks out an opponent.
  1. Sports.
    1. A victory in boxing in which one's opponent is unable to rise from the canvas within a specified time after being knocked down or is judged too injured to continue.
    2. The act of winning a boxing match in this way: won the fight by a knockout.
  2. Slang. A strikingly attractive or impressive person or thing.
adj. also knock-out (nŏk'out')
  1. Capable of knocking out: a knockout punch.
  2. Strikingly attractive or impressive.
  3. Having a specific single gene removed from the genome by genetic manipulation: knockout mice used in an experiment.

Our Living Language   An attractive or exciting person or thing can colloquially be called a knockout. First used in the early 20th century, this expression comes from a metaphorical use of the boxing term knock out. The sport of boxing has produced many terms, such as lightweight, heavyweight and slap happy that have entered our everyday language. Two political candidates will square off at the beginning of a debate, an expression with origins in the 18th- and 19th-century rules by which fighters began each round facing each other across a one-yard square in the center of the ring. One of our political candidates might anticipate a comment by the other and so beat her to the punch. If a candidate is clearly losing a debate, he may be said to be on the ropes, and he could even suffer a knockout blow, after which he might throw in the sponge or towel and quit his candidacy. Or, before any of that happens, perhaps time will run out on the other candidate, and he will be saved by the bell.


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noun

    A person regarded as physically attractive: beauty, belle (used of a woman), lovely, stunner. Slang babe, doll, hunk (used of a man), looker, stud (used of a man). See beautiful/ugly.

A partially punched-out circular area in the surface of an electrical outlet, junction box, or panel box; can easily be removed with a hammer, pliers, or screwdriver to provide access for the attachment of a raceway cable or fitting.



indicating an animal in which function of a gene has been deleted by genetic engineering techniques.

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categories related to 'knockout'

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Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
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Translations:

Knockout

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - knockout, udsmider
adj. - knaldgod

Nederlands (Dutch)
knock-out, KO, het bewusteloos slaan, uitschakelings- ronde/ -wedstrijd, een prachtige schoonheid

Français (French)
n. - knock-out (boxe), réussite, compétition (avec épreuves éliminatoires)
adj. - coup qui met K.O., (fig) coup de grâce, (Jur, Fin) enchérisseur

Deutsch (German)
n. - Knockout, vernichtender Schlag, Ausscheidungskampf, (ugs.) Wucht
adj. - (Boxen) K.O., niederschlagend, (übertr.) vernichtend

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - εξουδετέρωση αντίπαλου, νοκ-άουτ
v. - βγάζω νοκ-άουτ, αδειάζω (χτυπώντας)

Italiano (Italian)
fuori combattimento

Português (Portuguese)
n. - nocaute (m) (Desp.)
v. - nocautear

Русский (Russian)
нокаутирующий удар, сногсшибательная вещь, сенсация

Español (Spanish)
n. - knock-out, fuera de combate, persona o cosa sorprendente o atractiva
adj. - irresistible, que pone fuera de combate

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - knockout(slag), toppengrej, toppen kille, toppentjej
v. - slå ut

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
击倒, 淘汰赛, 判败击倒, 给人留下深刻印象的人, 击倒对手的, 给人深刻印象的, 淘汰的

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 擊倒, 淘汰賽, 判敗擊倒, 給人留下深刻印象的人
adj. - 擊倒對手的, 給人深刻印象的, 淘汰的

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 때려눕히기, 큰 타격, 멋진 사람
adj. - 녹아웃의, 맹렬한, 매혹적인, 부정수단으로 낙찰시킨

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - ノックアウトする
n. - ノックアウト, 大打撃, すばらしいもの
adj. - 強烈な, 意識を失わせる

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) ضربه قاضيه في الملاكمه (فعل) يضرب ضربه قاضيه, يهزم, يصرع‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מכת-מחץ המכניעה את היריב, סם מרדים, תחרות של "המפסיד - יוצא"‬
adj. - ‮מהמם, מרשים בהופעתו‬


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