The Collaborative International Dictionary
knock off \knock off\, n. a device in a knitting machine to remove loops from the needles.
knock off \knock off\, v. i. & t.
to quit (working).
to accomplish; -- frequently used when the task is accomplished rapidly.
to kill; to defeat (opponents). [Colloq.]
to discount, to deduct (a sum from a price).
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to rob.
Syn: knock over.
to make a knockoff of; to copy or imitate, usually without permission or admission of copying.
--[MW10]
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. 1 (alternative form of knockoff English) 2 A device in a knitting machine to remove loops from the needles. vb. 1 (&lit knock off English) 2 (context transitive English) To bump or hit so that something falls off 3 (context idiomatic intransitive English) To quit; stop doing work or other activity. The term originated from the practice aboard slave galleys to have a man beat time for the rowers by knocking on a block or drum; when he stopped, the rowers could rest. 4 (context idiomatic English) To kill someone 5 (context idiomatic English) To reduce or remove 6 (context idiomatic English) To rob. 7 (context transitive English) To make a copy of, as of a design. 8 (context transitive English) To assign (an item) to a bidder at an auction, indicated by knocking on the counter.
WordNet
v. get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing; "The mafia liquidated the informer"; "the double agent was neutralized" [syn: neutralize, neutralise, liquidate, waste, do in]
cut the price of [syn: shave]
take by theft; "Someone snitched my wallet!" [syn: hook, snitch, thieve, cop, glom]
write quickly; "She dashed off a note to her husdband saying she would not be home for supper" [syn: dash off, toss off, fling off]
stop pursuing or acting; "drop a lawsuit"; "knock it off!" [syn: drop]
Wikipedia
Knock Off is a 1998 Hong Kong-American action film directed by Tsui Hark and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Rob Schneider. The film was released in the United States on September 4, 1998. The title is a double entendre, as the term colloquially refers to both counterfeit goods as well as targeted killing. The film is one of the last in the world to feature Kai Tak Airport still in use; the airport closed in 1998.
Usage examples of "knock off".
My chair was backed up against the wall in the sheriff's office, and I was looking at the stars through the windows and feeling too lazy to go back to my magazine and wondering if I ought to knock off and hit the sack or keep on listening to Cameron curse real steady as he went over his columns of figures for the hundred twenty-seventh time.