knock-off (also written as knockoff)
noun

- a cheap copy of a popular product

Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

The word “knock” stems from the Old English cnocian, meaning to pound or beat, such as in knocking on a door. It likely is imitative of the sound that knocking makes.

The verbal phrase “knock off” is attested from the 1640s as “cease, stop” (work, study, etc.). By 1817 “knock off” had acquired the additional meaning “do hastily”.

The noun phrase “knock-off”, meaning “a cheap imitation”, is from 1966, in reference to the casual way the things are made.

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KNOCK PHRASES

- knock on wood! = spoken when knocking on something wooden to assure continued good luck (They have promised to sign the contract next week, knock on wood!)

- knock around s/o = to spend time with someone as a friend, or at a favoured location (He’s been knocking around the casino, I hope he’ll eventually lose interest.)

- knock it off! = said when you are losing patience and want s/o stop doing something irritating (Oh, knock it off Alex, I’m really not in the mood for your jokes.)

- knock it back = if you knock back a drink, especially an alcoholic one, you drink it quickly, and often in large amounts (He was knocking back his 10th gin of the day.)

- school of hard knocks = if you learn something in the school of hard knocks, you learn it as a result of difficult or unpleasant experiences (He's a good salesman, all he knows is from the school of hard knocks.)

- knock your socks off = if something knocks your socks off, you find it extremely exciting or good (I’m going to take you to a restaurant that’ll knock your socks off.)

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SYNONYMS

- a fraudulent imitation of something else:

bogus, cheap imitation, copy, counterfeit, deception, dud, dummy, dupe, fabrication, facsimile, fake, falsification, flimflam, forgery, four-flusher, fraud, gold brick, hoax, impersonation, imposture, KNOCK-OFF, lookalike, make-believe, masquerade, mock-up, phoney, pirate, pseudo, put-on, replica, reproduction, rip-off, scam, sham, simulacrum, simulation, sleight, spoof, swindle, warez

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