knock sb/sth back
phrasal verb with knock verb [ T ] uk/nɒk/ us
to have a bad effect on someone or something, especially by stopping them from achieving something:
Disappointing results from the company knocked its shares back to just 51p.
She missed out on the promotion, but refused to be knocked back.
to refuse to accept or agree to something:
The proposed merger of the two companies was knocked back by competition authorities in Australia.
Ofgem's role is to approve that pricing regime, and it has twice knocked back what the company is proposing.