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knock on wood

To take a customary action to ward off some misfortune that is believed to be attracted my a presumptuous statement.

Etymology:

  • From a folk practice of unclear origin.
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Submitted on September 01, 2009

Additional definitions for 'knock on wood':

knock on woodA self-directive to undertake the customary action to ward off bad luck.
knock on woodHave not had a misfortune yet.
Knock on WoodThose having superstitious beliefs such as knocking on wood save them to have a bad luck
See them all »

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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to knock on wood

knock downknock some sense intoknock outknock outknock it outknock out of the boxknock one down with a featherknock for a loopknock overknock aroundknock downknock outknock downknock down

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