thwack
Americanverb (used with object)
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thwacks,
present (3rd person singular)
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thwacked,
past participle, past
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thwacking
present participle
noun
verb
noun
interjection
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
thwacksimple
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thwackssimple
-
have thwackedperfect
-
has thwackedperfect
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am thwackingprogressive
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are thwackingprogressive
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is thwackingprogressive
-
have been thwackingperfect progressive
-
has been thwackingperfect progressive
Past
-
thwackedsimple
-
had thwackedperfect
-
was thwackingprogressive
-
were thwackingprogressive
-
had been thwackingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of thwack
First recorded in 1520–30; imitative
Vocabulary lists containing thwack
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:
The following “RV Envy” adds the thwack of a full drum kit to the mix, and the staticky howl of the hurdy-gurdy is as hectic as a smashed window triggering a building’s alarm system.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026
Dahlia Lithwick: I think what Judge Burroughs did was quite remarkable—she took a thwack at Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh in the opinion itself.
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2025
Forget the huge thwack of decisive national victory.
From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2025
The truck, which serves Mexican food, was parked across from a two-story home under construction, where the clang of hammers and thwack of nail guns sent echoes through the canyon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2024
He brought the spatula down on the countertop with a thwack.
From "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" by Kate DiCamillo
Manly Mando thwacks and snicks his way through all opponents while scarcely breaking a sweat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
Over the course of four decades, Oscar-winning sound designer Richard King has accumulated a library of tens of thousands of thuds, thwacks, clacks and other original recordings, yet he’s still always searching for something new.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2024
Two thwacks of the cleaver and he’s cut the duck in half.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 24, 2021
But there’s still a third break point to save, Federer steps in and attempts to put away the forehand ... and thwacks into the net!
From The Guardian ● Jan. 30, 2020
After putting on running tights, a long-sleeve T-shirt, gloves, and a hoodie, she crossed the hall to Brooklyn’s room and gave the door three hard thwacks with the bottom of her fist.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
“The shucked abalone is trimmed, butterflied, and thwacked lightly with a mallet.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
The boys loved it, even if daddy thwacked his head following them through a crawl space.
From New York Times ● Jul. 19, 2023
When Neil Wagner tried to bounce him, Brook cleared the front leg and thwacked the ball away, baseball-style.
From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2023
Seemingly everything he threw, the Rockies touched or tipped or simply thwacked.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2022
Jackie thwacked her forehead and said she couldn’t believe she’d never thought of that before.
From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor
“To be real with you, some of my early stuff wasn’t the most authentic,” she says as her drummer starts thwacking a snare during sound check .
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026
Once, the frenetic thwacking of flippers was the peak of manic childhood glee.
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2023
In the U.S. alone, somewhere between several hundred million and one billion birds die every year after thwacking into windows, many of them beckoned by interior lights.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 1, 2022
The sound of two sneaker soles thwacking a drum fill on the ground as Stubbs tried to regain his balance.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 17, 2022
She struts up and down the stage, her heels making a distinct thwacking noise with each step.
From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy
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.
