(informal, humorous) The male who has sired a pregnancy.
Used in a Sentence
knocker-upper
Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for knocker-upper.
Editorial note
You designate a knocker-upper knocker-upper, a person who goes to sleep with the inhabitants, and the last thing they do is to wake the knocker-uppers up.
Examples8
Definitions3
Parts of speech1
Quick take
(informal, humorous) The male who has sired a pregnancy.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of knocker-upper gathered in one view.
(in coopering, a tool to hammer the top head of a cask into place through the bung hole).
Alternative form of knocker-up (person who knocks to awaken in the morning). [(British, historical) A person whose job was to go from house to house in the early morning and wake up workers by tapping on the bedroom window with a long pole or similarly convenient implement.]
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for knocker-upper.
noun
(informal, humorous) The male who has sired a pregnancy.
noun
(in coopering, a tool to hammer the top head of a cask into place through the bung hole).
noun
Alternative form of knocker-up (person who knocks to awaken in the morning). [(British, historical) A person whose job was to go from house to house in the early morning and wake up workers by tapping on the bedroom window with a long pole or similarly convenient implement.]
Example sentences
You designate a knocker-upper knocker-upper, a person who goes to sleep with the inhabitants, and the last thing they do is to wake the knocker-uppers up.
The knocker-upper would rap on window panes with a long stick to wake factory workers before dawn.
Which makes me wonder: who would wake the knocker-upper so they go wake other people on time?
Can't the knocker-upper just use an alarm clock?
I don't have a magic ball, but I wouldn't be surprised if in a century, (human) software engineering goes the way of the switchboard operator, elevator operator or knocker-upper.
Stilts can be dangerous - but there are surely advantages too, a knocker-upper could knock on the window until they hear movement, they could also sell them a morning paper/loaf/whatever through the window; I'd imagine they could do their round faster too.
A knocker-up, sometimes known as a knocker-upper, was a profession in Britain and Ireland that started during and lasted well into the Industrial Revolution, when alarm clocks were neither cheap nor reliable, and to as late as the beginning of the 1920s.
Quote examples
The "knocker-upper" was a person who went round with a long wooden pole, knocking on the windows to get people out of bed for their factory shifts.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use knocker-upper in a sentence?
You designate a knocker-upper knocker-upper, a person who goes to sleep with the inhabitants, and the last thing they do is to wake the knocker-uppers up.
What does knocker-upper mean?
(informal, humorous) The male who has sired a pregnancy.
What part of speech is knocker-upper?
knocker-upper is commonly used as noun.