knocker

[ nok-er ]

/ ˈnɒk ər /

a person or thing that knocks.

a hinged knob, bar, etc., on a door, for use in knocking.

Informal. a persistent and carping critic; faultfinder.

Slang: Vulgar. a female breast.

on the knocker, British Slang. canvassing or selling door-to-door.

Origin of knocker

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at knock, -er¹

Some knockers are peculiar in that the design is not always apparent.

Chats on Old Copper and Brass |Fred. W. Burgess
Wimpole Street was then famous for the knockers upon its doors.

A Double Knot |George Manville Fenn
The knockers on the doors often assume very grotesque forms, as at Durham Cathedral.

English Villages |P. H. Ditchfield
The elaborate carved and painted doorways, knockers, lunettes, doors and steps are quite a model exhibition.

Highways and Byways in Surrey |Eric Parker

These knockers at your gate are also believers in vengeance and in stabbing.

Caesar and Cleopatra |George Bernard Shaw

knocker

/ (ˈnɒkə) /

an object, usually ornamental and made of metal, attached to a door by a hinge and used for knocking

informal a person who finds fault or disparages

(usually plural) slang a female breast

a person or thing that knocks

on the knocker Australian and NZ informal promptly; at once you pay on the knocker here