come knocking

verb

To arrive unanticipated and uninvited.

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Meanings

verbcome knocking (third-person singular simple present comes knocking, present participle coming knocking, simple past came knocking, past participle come knocking)

present singular third person comes knocking · participle present coming knocking · past came knocking

  1. idiomaticTo arrive unanticipated and uninvited.

    So, putting all these thoughts together, what do we do when temptation comes knocking?

    1999, Jerry Newcombe, Kirsti Newcombe, A Way of Escape: Experiencing God's Victory Over Temptation, page 218
    2 more examples

    So I put up bar and shutter When the wind goes howling by. For I know when it comes knocking That some evil thing is nigh.

    1907, The Little Sister

    Dennis Menace Dennis is always in trouble — and it's not always his fault. If trouble comes knocking, it comes knocking for Dennis.

    2023, BEANO Where’s Gnasher?, page 2
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

Source: come knocking on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.