- Take apart for storage or shipping. 2. Declare sold at auction. 3. Reduce the price of something. 4. Earn as wages. 5. Steal or embezzle.
Examples:
- That was the last bid, and the first edition was knocked down for only three hundred.
Origin: Mid-1700s for sense 2; mid-1800s for senses 3 and 5; mid-1900s for sense 1; 1920s for sense 4