knock around

knock around
transitive verb

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knock around (or about)
informal travel without a specific purpose

for a couple of years she and I knocked around the Mediterranean

■ happen to be present

it gets confusing when there are too many people knocking about

■ chiefly Brit. spend time with someone

she knocked around with artists

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knock around (also Brit knock about) [phrasal verb]
informal
1 a knock around/about (a place) or knock around/about : to spend time in (a place) without having a goal or purpose : to wander around (a place)

He spent the summer knocking around (in) Europe.

1 b knock around/about with (someone) Brit : to spend time with (another person)

She was knocking around [=hanging around] with her brother.

2 a : to be considered or discussed in an informal way over a period of time

These ideas have been knocking around [=kicking around] for years.

2 b knock around (something) or knock (something) around : to consider or talk about (ideas, plans, etc.) in an informal way

We knocked the plan around for a while before we came to an agreement.

They knocked around several possible names for the new car.

3 knock (someone) around/about : to beat or hit (someone) badly or repeatedly

The boy was getting knocked around by bullies.

— often used figuratively

I really got knocked around at the last staff meeting.

4 chiefly Brit : to be lying somewhere within a general area or place

That jacket is knocking about/around here somewhere.

• • •
Main Entry: ↑knock

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • knock\ around — • knock about • knock around v To travel without a plan; go where you please. After he graduated from college, Joe knocked about for a year seeing the country before he went to work in his father s business. Compare: kick around …   Словарь американских идиом

  • knock around — phrasal verb knock around or knock about Word forms knock around : present tense I/you/we/they knock around he/she/it knocks around present participle knocking around past tense knocked around past participle knocked around informal 1) British… …   English dictionary

  • knock around — (in BRIT, also use knock about) 1) PHRASAL VERB If someone knocks you around or knocks you about, they hit or kick you several times. [mainly BRIT, INFORMAL] [V n P] He lied to me constantly and started knocking me around. 2) PHRASAL VERB If… …   English dictionary

  • knock around — verb a) to spend time with someone as a friend I used to knock around with John when we were younger. b) To do a relaxing activity. I like to knock around the garden on Saturdays. Syn: hang, hang about …   Wiktionary

  • knock around — 1. in. to waste time. □ Stop knocking around and get to work! □ I need a couple of days a week just for knocking around. 2. AND kick around in. to wander around; to bum around. □ I think I’ll knock around a few months before looking for another… …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • knock about/knock around  — [v] roam, wander drift, ramble, range, rove, traipse, travel, walk; concepts 151,224 Ant. stay, wait …   New thesaurus

  • knock around — ► knock about (or around) informal 1) travel or spend time without a specific purpose. 2) happen to be present. Main Entry: ↑knock …   English terms dictionary

  • knock around with — be friends with, hang around with    Lynn used to knock around with us. She was our friend …   English idioms

  • knock around — Synonyms and related words: air, analyze, bat around, bum, canvass, comment upon, consider, controvert, count ties, deal with, debate, deliberate, deliberate upon, discourse about, discuss, divagate, drift, examine, exchange views, flit, gad, gad …   Moby Thesaurus

  • knock around —    habitually to beat    By husbands of wives and parents of children:     I gather he likes to knock her around a bit. (le Carré, 1989) …   How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms

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