as in to wake
to cause to stop sleeping
I asked the clerk at the hotel to knock me up at 7:00 a.m.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of knock up
Elle Fanning stars as Margo, a young college student who gets knocked up by one of her professors and decides to move back home and have the baby.
—
Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
At fine-dining Le Grand Large, a rotation of visiting chefs knock up Provencal dishes like red snapper and Bouillabaisse.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 May 2026
The pair collided with such force that Dumoulin got knocked up about two feet in the air before landing hard on his padded backside.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 27 Apr. 2026
Meanwhile, while Miranda busies herself with building a pageant empire, her husband Ray, a pill-popping nurse, has knocked up the 18-year-old granddaughter of one of his hospice patients.
—Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 28 Aug. 2025
Julia, worried, maintains that she’s not knocked up.
—Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 15 Aug. 2025
With 200 hp worth of empty space to play with before knocking up against the 600-hp V12 Verado, Mercury is dialing up the overall output of the V10 range by adding a new 425-hp variant as the flagship of the family.
—New Atlas, 12 Aug. 2025
Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
At fine-dining Le Grand Large, a rotation of visiting chefs knock up Provencal dishes like red snapper and Bouillabaisse.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 May 2026
The pair collided with such force that Dumoulin got knocked up about two feet in the air before landing hard on his padded backside.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 27 Apr. 2026
Meanwhile, while Miranda busies herself with building a pageant empire, her husband Ray, a pill-popping nurse, has knocked up the 18-year-old granddaughter of one of his hospice patients.
—Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 28 Aug. 2025
Julia, worried, maintains that she’s not knocked up.
—Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 15 Aug. 2025
With 200 hp worth of empty space to play with before knocking up against the 600-hp V12 Verado, Mercury is dialing up the overall output of the V10 range by adding a new 425-hp variant as the flagship of the family.
—New Atlas, 12 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for knock up
Verb
-
Enjoy the memes and nostalgia bait, and wake me up when training camp starts.—
Austin Perry OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
15 May 2026
-
Manning said smelling salts have only been approved for fainting because of the temporary increase of blood flow to the brain, and increased heart and respiratory rates can wake a person up.—
Jason Jones,
New York Times,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
Seeing her life through Meehan’s eyes awakened something in her.—
Yudhijit Bhattacharjee,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
-
At the sound of morning prayers, an older Clarissa awakens from this dream and shuffles out to her lawn, where the leafy bush has been replaced with the industrial skyline of Lagos.—
Lovia Gyarkye,
HollywoodReporter,
16 May 2026
Verb
-
The 68-year-old suspect awoke and got into an argument with the victim that turned physical.—
Rocco Parascandola,
New York Daily News,
14 May 2026
-
Many refugees came to her complaining of the headaches and sores and bodily pains that come from extreme stress and extreme boredom, of bedding on cold floors and being awoken through the night by explosions.—
James Verini,
The Atlantic,
12 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Knock up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knock%20up. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
