knock about meaning (informal): definition

knock about

verb

UK /ˌnɒk əˈbaʊt/ · US /ˌnɑk əˈbaʊt/

Etymology From knock (verb) + about.

8 senses

Informal To hit (someone or something) all over repeatedly; hence, to behave violently towards or mistreat (someone or something).

It was known that he would knock his wife about when he had been drinking.
I never saw quite so wretched an example of what a sea-faring life can do; but to a degree, I know it is the same with them all: they are all knocked about, and exposed to every climate, and every weather, till they are not fit to be seen.1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], chapter III, in Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume III, London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC, page 44:

2 more examples

[Y]oung Mustafa refused to cook rice; Farraj and Daud knocked him about until he cried; […]1922 (date written; published 1926), T[homas] E[dward] Lawrence, “Book VI: The Raid upon the Bridges. Chapter LXXVI.”, in Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran & Company, published 1937, →OCLC, page 424:
The place also got knocked about during the English Civil War, with "the spire [of its church] having been destroyed by the artillery of the Parliamentary forces".2023 February 22, Stephen Roberts, “Reading … between the lines … to Wales”, in Rail, number 977, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 56:

Informal To knock back a drink; to finish a drink.

Informal To move or roam around aimlessly; to be in circulation.

'Oh, come, sir,' protested Greatorex. 'This account speaks of a few other specimens knocking about. Surely in a year or two's time this one couldn't be positively identified as stolen?'1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries:

Broadly, Informal To live an unconventional life.

Informal To be present at or inhabit a certain place.

He [a hare] used to knock about here in Holleia, and they said he was nearly black. A good many were after him and had a shot at him, but they never had any luck, until this rascally Andreas came here.1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], “A Day with the Capercailzies”, in H. L. Brækstad, transl., Round the Yule Log. Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, →OCLC, page 77:
[I]n the chart-room of the steamer Nan-Shan, he stood confronted by the fall of a barometer he had no reason to distrust. […] "That's a fall, and no mistake," he thought. "There must be some uncommonly dirty weather knocking about."1902 January–March, Joseph Conrad, “Typhoon”, in George R. Halkett, editor, The Pall Mall Magazine, volume XXVI, London: Printed by Hazell, Watson & Viney, →OCLC, chapter I, page 92, column 2:

Broadly, Informal To engage in a relaxing activity in a place; to hang around in.

Broadly, Informal Often followed by with: to spend time companionably; to hang around.

Broadly, Informal To be mislaid in a place.

Usually in present participial form