Meaning of knockback | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A blow that causes the recipient to fall or move backwards, a knock back; a recoil.
2. Something that impedes or reverses progress; a setback.
3. A rejection; a refusal.
   Australia, UK, informal

Examples

“He lifted his hand in a knockback spell⟳, which would send⟳ me sailing right into the zombie.”

“[…]the chemo had not worked and had gone back into his brain.[…]He had knockback after knockback. It would have⟳ taken its toll on anyone.”

“Despite all the knockbacks from COVID, as an industry we are ready for the turnaround and more than ready to welcome⟳ back passengers returning from lockdown.”

“He got a few knockbacks today when he tried to give⟳ his resume out at the local shops.”

“The only other knockback in the Port Kembla-Wollongong district was from Benny Westwood of the Advance Tyre Service. He, too, ordered us off the premises.”

“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.”

“They asked matter-of-fact questions about harrowing tales that the victims had been trying to tell⟳ other media outlets, only to receive⟳ knockback after knockback for more than a year.”

“Nicole Kidman got a knockback because Su-Man was too busy whipping a certain Oscar-winning French actress into shape⟳.”

CEFR level