Standard Lemma guide

knockback

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A blow that causes the recipient to fall or move backwards, a knock back; a recoil.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Something that impedes or reverses progress; a setback.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A rejection; a refusal.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Australia, UK, informal

Examples

  • He got a few knockbacks today when he tried to give his resume out at the local shops.
  • 1995, Heather Hogarth, Your First Job: Getting It, Keeping It, and Going Further, MacMillan Education Australia, page 82, So you′ve had a knockback. All right, we don′t all get the first job we apply for.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Deverbal from knock back.