knock wood

A form of knock on wood — To take a customary action to ward off some misfortune that is believed to be attracted by a presumptuous statement.

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Meanings

verbknock wood (third-person singular simple present knocks wood, present participle knocking wood, simple past and past participle knocked wood)

present singular third person knocks wood · participle present knocking wood · participle past knocked wood · past knocked wood

  1. alternativeAlternative form of knock on wood.

    It's in an ultranice neighborhood. Pretty close to your school and to the boutique where — knock wood — I think I'm going to be working.

    2013, Lesley Ann McDaniel, Big Sky Bachelor, page 55
Cite this entry
APA

knock wood. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knock%20wood

MLA

“knock wood.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knock%20wood. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “knock wood,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knock%20wood.

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