as in sipped
to swallow in liquid form
desperately thirsty, she knocked back an entire glass of water without pausing
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of knocked back
But within seconds of being knocked back, the responding officers were back up, checking on each other and evacuating stunned residents — including several children — from the rubble of the home, the video shows.
—
Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 30 Apr. 2026
Unlike the native predators that are knocked back by drought, swamp eels are already lying in wait as water levels rise, prompting crayfish and other forage fish to repopulate the wetlands.
—Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 12 Mar. 2026
He sort of just gets knocked back a little bit.
—Josh Robbins, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2026
With ghost Rich’s help, the kids sink the dagger into the ground beneath the deadwood, and the Pennywise bird is knocked back onto the ice by a beam of light.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 15 Dec. 2025
Next door, at the nearly pitch-black bar Nothing Really Matters, a pair of court officers knocked back tomato martinis as a couple got handsy over pilsners a few seats down.
—The Editors, Curbed, 15 Dec. 2025
Two employees of Kentucky Truck Parts and Service, whose shop is located on the edge of the debris field, told CNN affiliate WLKY they were knocked back by the explosion.
—Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2025
Colts three-time All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson and mates knocked back linemen and linebackers.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Oct. 2025
After 400 that pinnacle drop is the only thing to level you up, and after six months, everyone is getting knocked back down to 200 to do it all over again.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025
Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 30 Apr. 2026
Unlike the native predators that are knocked back by drought, swamp eels are already lying in wait as water levels rise, prompting crayfish and other forage fish to repopulate the wetlands.
—Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 12 Mar. 2026
He sort of just gets knocked back a little bit.
—Josh Robbins, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2026
With ghost Rich’s help, the kids sink the dagger into the ground beneath the deadwood, and the Pennywise bird is knocked back onto the ice by a beam of light.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 15 Dec. 2025
Next door, at the nearly pitch-black bar Nothing Really Matters, a pair of court officers knocked back tomato martinis as a couple got handsy over pilsners a few seats down.
—The Editors, Curbed, 15 Dec. 2025
Two employees of Kentucky Truck Parts and Service, whose shop is located on the edge of the debris field, told CNN affiliate WLKY they were knocked back by the explosion.
—Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2025
Colts three-time All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson and mates knocked back linemen and linebackers.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Oct. 2025
After 400 that pinnacle drop is the only thing to level you up, and after six months, everyone is getting knocked back down to 200 to do it all over again.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for knocked back
Verb
-
Just around the corner from the rally on Tajrish Square, in a tranquil park near the Cinema Museum of Iran, locals perused an open-air book stall and sipped tea, while couples strolled hand in hand.—
Matthew Chance,
CNN Money,
18 May 2026
-
One of the biggest surprise observations from that visit was that Yamazaki 12, the flagship single malt from Japan’s oldest malt distillery, wasn’t sipped neat or on the rocks like it is typically enjoyed in Japan.—
John Kell,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
In the study, people who drank between two and three daily cups of coffee or one or two cups of tea had lower subjective cognitive decline and performed better on cognitive tests.—
Helen Carefoot,
Flow Space,
15 May 2026
-
This reductive view of the world—women things bad, men things good—is the mirror image of the worst excesses of 2010s Tumblr feminism, when introverted teenage girls posted hashtags like #KillAllMen and drank from mugs that read MALE TEARS.—
Helen Lewis,
The Atlantic,
14 May 2026
Verb
-
Many years had passed since Caity Maple, a Sacramento councilmember, gulped down orange juice.—
Ishani Desai,
Sacbee.com,
10 May 2026
-
With the dead and the wounded sprawled around them, the mocambos gulped the wine from the sacramental chalice.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
19 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Knocked back.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knocked%20back. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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