Inspector Knacker

noun

A generic police officer, or the police in general.

“You won't be smiling when Inspector Knacker pays you a visit.”

Meanings

nounInspector Knacker (plural Inspector Knackers)

plural Inspector Knackers

  1. UKcountableuncountableA generic police officer, or the police in general.

    You won't be smiling when Inspector Knacker pays you a visit.

    4 more examples

    However, just before he is discharged, the French ring up Inspector Knacker and say, "Look, I'm sorry we haven't made it in time, but we absolutely promise you that we will get it to you in another 48 hours, so please arrest this man again, as soon as he is discharged".

    2003 June 18, Lord Goodhart, “Official Report of the Grand Committee on the Extradition Bill”, in parliamentary debates (House of Lords), column 349

    Reid wants to be top of the cops, issuing orders to Inspector Knackers and James Bonds with criminals and terrorists in his sights.

    2007 January 24, the Editor, “Secretary for Public Safety”, in The Mirror

    Please note: Inspector Knacker has been known to query applications by phone in the early hours NZ time, so forewarn your family, friends and flatmates that you are not the subject of an Interpol inquiry.

    2008, Georgina Pallfey, Working and Living in New Zealand, page 129

    But, on this occasion, caution wisely stayed his hand and he confined himself to poisoning the Birdas coffee only, reasoning that wiping out an entire Conservative Party Association branch, while desirable from the point of view of most decent folk, might, unfortunately, have the countervailing disadvantage of attracting the attention of Inspector Knacker.

    2012, Chris Payne, Erased!, page 123

Origin

Coined by Private Eye as "Knacker of the Yard", a pun on knacker's yard and the practice of referring to Scotland Yard as the Yard.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Inspector Knacker. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Inspector%20Knacker

MLA

“Inspector Knacker.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Inspector%20Knacker. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Inspector Knacker,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Inspector%20Knacker.

Source: Inspector Knacker on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.