whack

¹

[ wak, hwak ]

verb (used with object)

1. to strike with a smart, resounding blow or blows.
2. Slang. to divide into or take in shares (often followed by up ):

   Whack the loot between us two.

verb (used without object)

1. to strike a smart, resounding blow or blows.

noun

1. a smart, resounding blow:

   a whack with his hand.

2. Informal. a trial or attempt:

   to take a whack at a job.

   Synonyms: turn, go, try

3. Slang. a portion or share.

verb phrase

1. 1. to cut off or separate with a blow:

      The cook whacked off the fish's head.

   2. Slang: Vulgar. to masturbate.
2. Slang. to produce quickly or, sometimes, carelessly:

   She whacks out a short story every week or so.

whack

²

[ wak, hwak ]

noun

1. a variant of wack ¹( def ).

whack

/ wæk /

verb

1. to strike with a sharp resounding blow
2. informal.
   usually passive to exhaust completely
3. 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

1. slang.
   tr to murder

   if you were out of line you got whacked

2. a sharp resounding blow or the noise made by such a blow
3. informal.
   a share or portion
4. informal.
   a try or attempt (esp in the phrase have a whack at )
5. out of whack informal.
   out of whack out of order; unbalanced

   the whole system is out of whack

interjection

1. an exclamation imitating the noise of a sharp resounding blow

Derived Forms

• ˈwhacker, noun

Other Words From

• whack·er noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of whack¹

First recorded in 1710–20; originally dialect, Scots form of thwack; whang ², whittle

Word History and Origins

Origin of whack¹

C18: perhaps a variant of thwack , ultimately of imitative origin

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. out of whack, Informal. out of order or alignment; not in proper condition.

More idioms and phrases containing whack

• have a crack (whack) at
• out of kilter (whack)

Example Sentences

So, on the one hand, it’s like they’re playing whack-a-mole with extremists without necessarily being willing to change the design of the social network that’s built to elevate extremism.

From Vox

Yet the county still prohibits the sale of cannabis, meaning deputies are constantly engaged in a game of whack-a-mole with illegal shops.

From Voice of San Diego

Telepath’s name policy is meant to make sure the content moderation team can fully focus on spotting abuse rather than playing whack-a-mole with burner accounts.

From MIT Technology Review

A nicer environment could reset to normal the stress responses that had been thrown out of whack by early-life trauma, these studies showed.

From Science News For Students

CFOs overwhelmingly think the valuation for stocks is out of whack, with 84% of respondents describing equities as overvalued.

From Fortune

Say the Democrats: When all else fails, whack them on Social Security.

From The Daily Beast

But this new flavor of rhetorical flimflam is still pretty, well, whack.

From The Daily Beast

Why is he dialing down the humor and dialing up the moralizing, throwing his immaculate comedic balance out of whack?

From The Daily Beast

Apple is working on an automatic alert system that rings a doctor if blood sugar or blood pressure gets out of whack.

From The Daily Beast

First, Herz argues, our ability to weigh risk is out of whack, because CrossFit is more like a sport than a Pilates class.

From The Daily Beast

Queeker brought the handle of his riding-whip whack down on the flank of his astonished horse, and flew at the fence.

From Project Gutenberg

When I'd read about a half a minute, he fetched the book a whack with his hand and knocked it across the house.

From Project Gutenberg

No; I take en whack de bill in two, en give half un it to you, en de yuther half to de yuther woman.

From Project Gutenberg

Then our trunks broke loose and went crashing back and forth at each other, whack, bang, with a vicious delight.

From Project Gutenberg

Tim gave the monster a whack with his paddle, which made it quickly sink again.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• wallop