knocker-upper

knocker-upper

English

Etymology

By a regular pattern for (informal) nouns seen also in similar forms, such as fixer-upper and cleaner-upper; the sire sense involves an extra degree of wordplay, as an alternative surface analysis of knock (h)er up + -er is playfully apparent (who knocked 'er up?).

Pronunciation

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Noun

knocker-upper (plural knocker-uppers)

  1. Alternative form of knocker-up (person who knocks to awaken in the morning).
    • 2026 March 13, Ellsworth Toohey, “The long history of waking people up before alarm clocks”, in BoingBoing‎[1], archived from the original on 14 March 2026:
      In 1876, a knocker-upper on rounds in Bradford spotted a 2 a.m. house fire and saved a sleeping family.
  2. (in coopering, a tool to hammer the top head of a cask into place through the bung hole).
  3. (informal, humorous) The male who has sired a pregnancy.
    Synonyms: sire, father, dad, daddy, baby daddy
    What, Shelley is pregnant?! Who's the knocker-upper? [ = Who's the father?]
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