knocked up

past tense of knock up, British

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 knocked up 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for knocked up
Verb
  • At a time when contentious words dominate our conversations—think insurrection and fascism and fake news and woke—the need for dictionaries to chronicle and explain language, and serve as its watchdog, has never been greater.
    Stefan Fatsis, The Atlantic, 13 Sep. 2025
  • The Walton-Penner ownership group woke everybody up.
    Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 10 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The box office success of King Kong’s 1952 rerelease, followed by Eugene Lourie’s The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), where a dinosaur was awakened by an atomic blast, both served as inspiration.
    Michael Taube, The Washington Examiner, 12 Sep. 2025
  • The car’s impact awakened other family members in the home, but they were not hurt, prosecutors said.
    Daniella Segura, Sacbee.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Residents awoke to an atmospheric anomaly — fueled by meteorological conditions trapping smoke from Northern California wildfires — in which the sky did indeed turn a smoky orange.
    Randy McMullen, Mercury News, 18 Sep. 2025
  • On an afternoon when the offense finally awoke from its summer hibernation, this represented a chance for a statement drive in a benchmark game.
    Troy Renck, Denver Post, 15 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Knocked up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knocked%20up. Accessed 20 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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