conk out
Britishverb
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(of machines, cars, etc) to fail suddenly
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to tire suddenly or collapse, as from exhaustion
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Stop functioning, fail, as in The engine finally conked out . [ Colloquial ; early 1900s]
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Fall asleep, as in Every evening he conked out in front of the television set . [1940s]
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Faint or collapse, as in I don't know if it was the heat, but she suddenly conked out . [1920s]
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Die, as in He's paranoid about conking out and he's only twenty! [Late 1920s]
Etymology
Origin of conk out
C20: of uncertain origin
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.
Current models say the birds should conk out after three or four days, yet they fly for more than a week.
From New York Times • Sep. 20, 2022
It could be the cells in the body reach a critical number of mutations and then conk out.
From BBC • Apr. 13, 2022
But 2-year-olds are old enough to get bored and also have too much energy to conk out easily.
From Slate • Jul. 15, 2019
Good grief — how are we supposed to figure out which products won’t conk out, spy on us or let in hackers?
From Washington Post • Mar. 14, 2019
“Uh, Shay, you’re pretty sure our boards aren’t suddenly going to conk out, right?” she called softly.
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
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.
