- a variation of wack.
whack
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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whacks,
present (3rd person singular)
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whacked,
past participle, past
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whacking
present participle
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to strike with a smart, resounding blow or blows.
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Slang. to divide into or take in shares (often followed byup ).
Whack the loot between us two.
verb (used without object)
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whacks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
whacked,
past participle, past
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whacking
present participle
noun
verb phrase
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whack out to produce quickly or, sometimes, carelessly.
She whacks out a short story every week or so.
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whack off
-
to cut off or separate with a blow.
The cook whacked off the fish's head.
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Slang: Vulgar. to masturbate.
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idioms
noun
verb
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to strike with a sharp resounding blow
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informal (usually passive) to exhaust completely
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informal (tr; usu foll by in or on) to put something on to or into something else with force or abandon
whack on some sunscreen
noun
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slang (tr) to murder
if you were out of line you got whacked
-
a sharp resounding blow or the noise made by such a blow
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informal a share or portion
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informal a try or attempt (esp in the phrase have a whack at )
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informal out of order; unbalanced
the whole system is out of whack
interjection
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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whacksimple
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whackssimple
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have whackedperfect
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has whackedperfect
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am whackingprogressive
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are whackingprogressive
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is whackingprogressive
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have been whackingperfect progressive
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has been whackingperfect progressive
Past
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whackedsimple
-
had whackedperfect
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was whackingprogressive
-
were whackingprogressive
-
had been whackingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of whack
First recorded in 1710–20; originally dialect, Scots form of thwack; cf. whang 2, whittle
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:
Commodity traders often profit when prices in different regions and at different times move out of whack.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
An investigative journalist who has been looking into the Welsh Gender Service for several months said that referrals from the service had been "out of whack" with the rest of the UK.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
“We have a red-flag system here, where if there’s anything that gets really out of whack, they can immediately tag the milk, and it doesn’t go to anything but cheese,” McAfee told me.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
A bright sky is a signal that it’s daytime, so getting that signal at night throws all of that out of whack.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
His gallop was so disorganized that he had a maddening tendency to whack himself in the front ankle with his own hind hoof.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
The symbolism whacks you like a 90-pound dumbbell: Being more manly solves everything.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
Tech shares have taken their share of whacks in the past few months.
From Barron's ● Jan. 7, 2026
Speculative effort from Martina Piemonte, who from around 40 yards out whacks the ball towards the Arsenal goal.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2024
The front end whacks the mannequin, sending it flying into the air.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2023
Back of my head whacks into something hollow.
From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick
Sepinwall recalled how, back when “The Sopranos” first aired in the late 1990s and 2000s, most people were watching it at the same time, making it easier to avoid spoiling who got whacked.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Will Mark Zuckerberg’s social-media behemoth Meta Platforms get whacked with a legal judgment equal to its entire $1.4 trillion stock-market value?
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
Indeed, as the band, including Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Lewis and Schwartzman, performed the Bobby Fuller Four’s single “Let Her Dance,” Murray indeed whacked the hell out of that thing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
For all its association with AI, Palantir is still a software company and software stocks have gotten whacked in 2026.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
Suddenly, she whacked her fist against the glass, and a crack stretched along the entirety of the screen like a spiderweb, the colors distorting, bands of deep red stretching across the image.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
Buttler made 33 from 20 before Walter combined with the destructive Heinrich Klaasen and the pair added 114 off just 52 balls, with Walter whacking eight sixes and Klaasen four.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Hunter was dropped on three and went on to make 28 before Prendergast accelerated through the middle overs, whacking eight fours and two sixes in her match-winning knock.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
Two big loans that were made during the postpandemic boom in private-equity buyouts are defaulting, whacking some private-credit funds and ratcheting up losses in the already troubled corner of Wall Street.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Markets are treading water due to other concerns too—notably private credit and ongoing fears about artificial intelligence whacking software and services companies.
From Barron's ● Feb. 20, 2026
Poppy, delighted to have Lina at home to play with, kept toddling over with things she found—dust rags, kitchen spoons, stray shoes—and whacking them against Lina’s knees, saying, “Play wif dis! Play wif dis!”
From "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
