Knock off is an informal way to say reduce a price: knock 20 percent off means give a 20 percent discount. The second meaning is to finish work and go home: What time do you knock off? Both meanings are informal: in a message to a client, reduce the price and finish work are better.
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knock + amount + off (+ the price); knock off (work) + early/at + time
- The seller knocked fifty pounds off because the car had a scratch on the door.
- We usually knock off at six, but today we're staying late to finish the report.
What changed
First versionCould you knock off ten pounds from the price if I pay in cash?
RevisionCould you knock ten pounds off the price if I pay in cash?
It's tempting to keep knock off together and add from, as in take ten pounds from the price. But in English the amount goes between knock and off, and off itself means “from”: knock ten pounds off the price. From isn't needed here.
The noun knock-off means a cheap copy of a famous brand, a fake: a knock-off designer bag. It's written with a hyphen and says nothing about a discount, though such things really are cheap.
Your turn
We finished the project on Friday morning, so the manager let us ___ an hour early.
Show the answer
knock off — The manager let everyone go an hour early, so it's about the end of the working day: knock off. Knock out means “knock unconscious” and has nothing to do with leaving work.
Imagine you're haggling at a market or in a second-hand shop. Write what you're buying and how much you'd like taken off the price.
I really like this lamp, but it has a crack — could you knock five pounds off?
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