clobber
1 Americanverb (used with object)
-
clobbers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
clobbered,
past, past participle
-
clobbering
present participle
noun
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
-
to beat or batter
-
to defeat utterly
-
to criticize severely
noun
verb
Regionalisms
See clabber.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
clobbersimple
-
clobberssimple
-
have clobberedperfect
-
has clobberedperfect
-
am clobberingprogressive
-
are clobberingprogressive
-
is clobberingprogressive
-
have been clobberingperfect progressive
-
has been clobberingperfect progressive
Past
-
clobberedsimple
-
had clobberedperfect
-
was clobberingprogressive
-
were clobberingprogressive
-
had been clobberingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of clobber1
An Americanism dating back to 1940–45; origin uncertain
Origin of clobber2
First recorded in 1875–80; of obscure origin; cf. clobber 3
Origin of clobber3
First recorded in 1850–55; earlier, “to mend, patch up (clothes or shoes)”; of obscure origin
Explanation
To clobber is to beat up or to defeat soundly in a game. You can say your favorite baseball team clobbers the competition if they win with a score of 10 to 0. When a boxer knocks out his adversary he clobbers him, and a bully clobbers his victim by punching him repeatedly. You can also clobber someone without shedding blood, as when you beat your dad in chess. The word clobber was originally World War II British air force slang, in the 1940s, and usually referred to aerial bombing.
Vocabulary lists containing clobber
Super Bowl Blowout: Epic Vocab for the Big Game
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
American Football, 4th Quarter
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
March: Book Two
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"If you live in a small house, you don't want all this clobber."
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
At least they don’t reach out to clobber nearby cars.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026
“I honestly don’t know,” Freddie Freeman said when asked about Ohtani’s ability to consistently clobber the ball.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2024
But as the storm continued to clobber the state, worse impacts were certainly possible, Mr. Ortiz said.
From New York Times ● Feb. 4, 2024
My other mother loved me to pieces, but she stood ready to clobber me if I moved.
From "Facing the Lion" by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton and Herman Viola
But if it clobbers Oklahoma State and Oregon struggles vs.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 28, 2023
Game 3, with Muncy back in the lineup, he clobbers the Giants, again.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2023
Popular media hasembraced the terms, using them when a snowstorm clobbers an area that usually gets little snow.
From Scientific American ● Nov. 11, 2022
Mickelson’s not quite out of it, three back of Mattiace as he clobbers his drive on the 15th.
From Golf Digest ● Mar. 25, 2020
That line of hers clobbers me over and over.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
Razaullah, the 21-year-old batting at number nine on Test debut, clobbered 81 from 63 balls at Edgbaston.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
But it kind of mattered, at least psychologically, and for pride, especially for Turkey, which was getting clobbered back home for its nonperformance in the Cup.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Meanwhile, food prices have jumped by 40% in just a few years, which has clobbered people's finances.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
The contracts clobbered the stocks of state-licensed bookmakers last year.
From Barron's ● Jan. 31, 2026
Suddenly his chest constricted, pain clobbered a shoulder, he almost toppled backward into the tub.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
“The Last House” and “The Whisper Man” have both outperformed “Don’t Say Good Luck,” with “The Whisper Man” clobbering both in the number of hours viewed after just a few days on the streamer.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
Apple finally overthrew Nvidia to reclaim the title of the world’s largest company by market capitalization, underscoring the dramatic degree to which the iPhone maker’s stock is clobbering the broader technology universe.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
Ford’s secret project had an ambitious goal: to figure out how to make electric vehicles in the U.S. that could compete with the Chinese models clobbering competitors globally.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
Weatherald was in fine early touch, clobbering a series of boundaries from Carse whose radar was off, bowling too short and wide.
From Barron's ● Dec. 17, 2025
Out in the dust-clouded yard, Riker’s tyrannosaurus leaned down and gobbled up a man in a prison uniform, then swept its tail in a wide arc, clobbering two knuckleskulls and sending their riders flying.
From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
