to knock under
Preserved but no longer current.
To acknowledge oneself defeated, in argument or otherwise, to knuckle under. Perhaps from the old custom of a disputant who gets the worst of it tapping the under side of the table or from the habit, in hard-drinking days, of subsiding under the table.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to knock under” mean?
To acknowledge oneself defeated, in argument or otherwise, to knuckle under. Perhaps from the old custom of a disputant who gets the worst of it tapping the under side of the table or from the habit, in hard-drinking days, of subsiding under the table.
Is “to knock under” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.