WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

knock about
    v 1: strike against forcefully; "Winds buffeted the tent" [syn:
         buffet, knock about, batter]
    2: be around; be alive or active; "Does the old man still kick
       around?" [syn: kick around, knock about, kick about]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

59 Moby Thesaurus words for "knock about":
   abuse, bat around, batter, bruise, buffet, bum, count ties,
   divagate, do violence to, do wrong by, do wrong to, drift, flit,
   gad, gad about, gallivant, go about, go the rounds, hit the road,
   hit the trail, hobo, ill-treat, ill-use, injure, jaunt,
   knock around, maltreat, manhandle, maul, meander, mishandle,
   mistreat, molest, mooch, nomadize, outrage, peregrinate, pererrate,
   prowl, ramble, range, roam, rough, rough up, roughhouse, rove,
   run about, saunter, savage, straggle, stray, stroll, traipse,
   tramp, vagabond, vagabondize, walk the tracks, wander, wayfare