Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Causing one to be knocked out, as by a blow in a fight; hence, very effective; crushing: as, a knock-out blow.
  • noun In pugilism, the act of rendering insensible; a blow which produces insensibility.
  • noun A knock-off; a release; specifically, a device for allowing a valve in a spring-testing machine to open when the ram encounters a resistance.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective That knocks out; characterized by knocking out.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Alternative form of knockout.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • OK, maybe not the latter, but there were some "knock-out" plates on this menu, so rather than take you through everything I ate, I will tell you what really made me consider coming to Philly more often to dine.

    Michelle Won: Village Belle in Philadelphia Dishes Up Mediterranean Deliciousness Michelle Won 2011

  • He had a knock-out wife, two babies, the works, and he couldn't keep his donkey in the barn.

    Lawmaker drops effort to honor Tiger Woods 2009

  • Issei Kato/Reuters Japan's challenger Akira Yaegashi celebrated after capturing a technical knock-out in the 10th-round from champion Pornsawan Porpramook of Thailand at their WBA minimum weight title fight in Tokyo on Monday.

    Asia in Pictures 2011

  • OK, maybe not the latter, but there were some "knock-out" plates on this menu, so rather than take you through everything I ate, I will tell you what really made me consider coming to Philly more often to dine.

    Michelle Won: Village Belle in Philadelphia Dishes Up Mediterranean Deliciousness Michelle Won 2011

  • Everybody knows the format has been tweaked to have teams like India and Pakistan qualify for the knock-out stages, but I think it does have some positives from a cricketing sense.

    Cricket World Cup needs classic moments – not Bryan Adams – to be a hit | Rob Bagchi 2011

  • The first knock-out round in the European Mixed Teams Championship featured a remarkable number of matches that would be decided only by the final deal.

    A knock-out deal 2011

  • Note - learn that move to knock-out bad guys with one punch, and how to take down a room of armed enemies without getting hurt.

    “Taken,” not stirred » Scene-Stealers 2009

  • We watch him transform the implications of Paul Cézanne's hard-won, carefully adjusted touches into an evocative language of planes, strokes and angles in landscapes, figure studies, heads, a knock-out still life of a chocolate pot with the presence of one of the Demoiselles d'Avignon, and a pair of stunning watercolors of bathers in a forest.

    Portrait of a Restless Artist as a Young Man Karen Wilkin 2011

  • Each year Consumerist.com hosts a no-holds-barred, throw down, knock-out fight to determine the Worst Company in America. 32 companies enter -- but only one leaves.

    Chris Morran: The Worst Company in America: The Final Four Chris Morran 2011

  • Here, in a vast and echoing building, is a seemingly endless calvacade of immortal masterpieces: Rembrandts, two knock-out Vermeers, beautiful Chardins, gorgeous Botticellis, Cranachs, Massaccios, Caravaggios.

    This week's arts diary 2011

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