1
general::
Phrase(s): knock about (somewhere)
to travel around; to act as a vagabond. • I’d like to take off a year and knock about Europe. • If you’re going to knock about, you should do it when you’re young., Phrase(s): knock about (some place) (with someone) [and] knock around (some place) (with someone)
to hang around some place with someone; to wander idly about some place with someone. • Sally was knocking about France with her friends. • I knocked around town with Ken for a while.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
Also, knock around. 1. Be rough or brutal with, maltreat, as in He was known to knock his wife about on a regular basis. [c. 1800] 2. Wander from place to place, as in They were knocking around Europe all summer. [Colloquial; c. 1830] 3. Discuss or consider, as in They met to knock about some new ideas. [Mid-1900s] Also see KICK AROUND.
American Heritage Idioms