# knock about

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/knock-about
Updated: 2026-08-08

## Senses

### 1. to spend time or live in a place

phrasal verb · CEFR B2 · British English · Informal

to spend time in a particular place or area without a specific purpose.

For teachers: to frequent or inhabit a particular location in a casual or aimless manner.

- He used to knock about the docks when he was a teenager.
- Having retired early, he spent most of his afternoons knocking about the local library or the park.

Usage: Intransitive; often followed by a prepositional phrase indicating the location.

### 2. to travel aimlessly

phrasal verb · CEFR B2 · British English · Informal

to travel from place to place without a fixed plan or schedule.

For teachers: to wander or roam across a geographic area without a specific itinerary.

- They spent the summer knocking about Europe with just their backpacks.
- After finishing university, she spent a year knocking about Southeast Asia before settling into a corporate career.

Usage: Intransitive; usually followed by a geographic location.

### 3. to be present or available

phrasal verb · CEFR B2 · British English · Informal

to be somewhere nearby or in circulation, even if you cannot see it right now.

For teachers: to be present, available, or in existence within a particular environment.

- There should be a spare set of keys knocking about the house somewhere.
- Although the technology is old, there are still a few functional models knocking about in second-hand shops.

Usage: Intransitive; often used with 'somewhere' or 'in'.

### 4. to treat roughly

phrasal verb · CEFR C1 · British English · Informal

to hit someone or something repeatedly or to treat them in a violent way.

For teachers: to mistreat physically or handle roughly; to subject to repeated physical impact.

- The old car had been knocked about a bit over the years.
- The witness testified that the suspect had been known to knock his associates about during arguments.

Usage: Transitive; the object can be a person or a physical object.

## Examples

- He's been knocking about the city all day.
- After finishing work, she decided to knock about the town for a few hours.
- The artist spent months knocking about Europe, sketching scenes from various cities.

## Usage notes

- Teaching tip: contrast with 'wander around' (more general) and 'roam' (more purposeful); 'knock about' carries a casual, sometimes aimless connotation unique to British English.

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