d. 1704. Tom Brown, Works, iv. 183. Perverse people ... that would
not knock off in any reasonable time but lived long on purpose to
spite their relation.
To knock one bandy, verb. phr. (tailors’).—To astound; to flabbergast
(q.v.).
To knock on the head, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To frustrate; to spoil;
to settle.
To knock out, verb. phr. (auctioneers’).—1. See knock-out.
2. (racing).—To bet so persistently against a horse that from a short
price he retires to an outside place: to drive out of the quotations.
1876. Hindley, Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 203. The concern
would either remain for a time in shares or would be knocked out at
once.
1883. Pall Mall Gazette, 16 April, p. 4, col. 1. Foxhall ... was
second favourite for some time, but he has now been knocked out to
comparatively long odds.
3. (common).—To make bankrupt: Knocked out = unable to meet
engagements.