knock under

idiom

The phrase "knock under" is an outdated idiom that means to submit or yield, originating from a gesture of knocking under a table to signify submission.

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Definition

C2General

(dated, idiom)To submit or yield to authority or pressure.

Example

He refused to knock under despite the overwhelming odds.

C2General

(dated, idiom, slang)To accept defeat or give in.

Example

Eventually, the company had to knock under and agree to the demands.

Similar

Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "knock under":

knock in knock on knock about knock down knock up knock over knock back knock together knock off knock out knock out of the box knock knock knock on the door of up to the knocker knock on wood knock it off knock the living daylights out of go under bang off bang on bang into knuckle up bang out knock into a cocked hat