knock on the door of

verb

To ask for entrance or admission into.

“Every year, thousands of students knock on the door of Ivy League universities.”

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Meanings

verbknock on the door of (third-person singular simple present knocks on the door of, present participle knocking on the door of, simple past and past participle knocked on the door of)

present singular third person knocks on the door of · participle present knocking on the door of · participle past knocked on the door of · past knocked on the door of · alternative knock at the door of

  1. To ask for entrance or admission into.

    Every year, thousands of students knock on the door of Ivy League universities.

  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see knock, on, the, door, of.

    Who can it be knocking at my door? Go away, don't come 'round here no more Can't you see that it's late at night? I'm very tired and I'm not feeling right

    1981, Men at Work, “Who Can It Be Now?”, in Business as Usual
Cite this entry
APA

knock on the door of. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knock%20on%20the%20door%20of

MLA

“knock on the door of.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knock%20on%20the%20door%20of. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “knock on the door of,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knock%20on%20the%20door%20of.

Source: knock on the door of on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.