knocks

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of knock.

   The mechanic frowns whenever the engine knocks under heavy load.

   A neighbor knocks at the window to warn them about the storm.

   Note

   The present-tense form for he, she and it, spelled exactly like the plural noun. Its grammar shifts with the meaning. Someone knocks at a door with no direct object, while knocking a door directly is now dated. In the colloquial sense of criticizing, it takes an object (she knocks his cooking). In ball games, a player knocks the ball to a teammate.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of knock.

   A series of sharp knocks interrupted the quiet meeting.

   The old wooden table showed the knocks and scratches of many years.

   Note

   A plural that covers every countable use of the noun: raps at a door, sharp impacts, criticisms, setbacks, and even a batsman's innings in slang. The engine sense is the exception. Preignition is an uncountable noun, so a mechanic speaks of knock, or of an engine that knocks, rather than of knocks.

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