engine knock

noun

a rattling, pinging, or tapping sound caused by improper combustion, where the air-fuel mixture ignites spontaneously in the cylinders before the spark plug fires, or in multiple spots simultaneously

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Meanings

nounengine knock (uncountable)
  1. uncountablea rattling, pinging, or tapping sound caused by improper combustion, where the air-fuel mixture ignites spontaneously in the cylinders before the spark plug fires, or in multiple spots simultaneously

    Once leaded fuel solved the problem of engine knock, cars quickly displaced horses and motorised transportation took over the world.

    2025 September 11, Kate Marvel, “‘We’ve done it before’: how not to lose hope in the fight against ecological disaster”, in The Guardian
Cite this entry
APA

engine knock. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/engine%20knock

MLA

“engine knock.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/engine%20knock. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “engine knock,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/engine%20knock.

Source: engine knock on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.