knock down
phr. v..phr. v.. to hit something so hard that it falls; also to reduce the price of something suddenly.
phr. v.. to strike with force causing something to collapse; transitive phrasal verb with separable particles, though 'down' is typically retained with the object.
The storm knocked down the fence.
The protesters knocked down the barricades to enter the building.
The government knocked down the price of essential goods to ease inflationary pressures.
- Particles
- down
- Separability
- inseparable
- Pattern
- knock + down + object
can take a direct object (knock down the wall) or be used intransitively (the wall was knocked down).
contrast with 'knock over' (to topple something) and 'knock out' (to defeat or render unconscious); all use 'knock' but with different particles and meanings.
knock the wall downknock down the wallthe particle 'down' is inseparable from the verb in this phrasal verb, though it may appear after the object in informal speech.