Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To strike (someone or something) with a sharp blow; slap.
  • intransitive verb Slang To kill deliberately; murder.
  • intransitive verb To deal a sharp, resounding blow.
  • noun A sharp, swift blow.
  • noun The sound made by a sharp, swift blow.
  • idiom (have/take) To try out; attempt.
  • idiom (out of whack) Improperly ordered or balanced; not functioning correctly.
  • idiom (whacked out) Exhausted.
  • idiom (whacked out) Crazy.
  • idiom (whacked out) Under the influence of a mind-altering drug.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Fettle; condition.
  • To give a heavy or resounding blow to; thwack.
  • To divide into shares; apportion; parcel out.
  • To strike, or continue striking, anything with smart blows.
  • To make a division or settlement; square accounts; pay: often in the phrase to whack up.
  • noun A heavy blow; a thwack.
  • noun A stroke; a trial or attempt: as, to take a whack at a job.
  • noun A piece; a share; a portion.
  • noun Appetite.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun colloq. A smart resounding blow.
  • noun Slang A portion; share; allowance.
  • noun colloq. an attempt
  • noun [Slang] out of order.
  • intransitive verb To strike anything with a smart blow.
  • intransitive verb [Colloq.] to continue striking heavy blows.
  • transitive verb colloq. To strike; to beat; to give a heavy or resounding blow to; to thrash; to make with whacks.
  • transitive verb Slang To divide into shares; ; -- often with up.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A blow, impact or slap.
  • noun A share or portion.
  • noun An attempt.
  • verb To hit, slap or strike.
  • verb To kill, bump off.
  • verb To share or parcel out.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb hit hard
  • noun the sound made by a sharp swift blow
  • noun the act of hitting vigorously

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably imitative.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Onomatopoeic.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word whack.

Examples

  • The Ducks are whole other squad in their building, while on the road, Jeremiah Masoli is as cool as a Stuart Scott catchphrase that was as whack as the term whack was back in 2003.

    Scout.com > CollegeFootballNews.com 2009

  • The Ducks are whole other squad in their building, while on the road, Jeremiah Masoli is as cool as a Stuart Scott catchphrase that was as whack as the term whack was back in 2003.

    Scout.com > CollegeFootballNews.com 2009

  • No. 17, 559 yards, par 5 (Lang Whang): A "good whack" is required for players to have a reasonable chance of reaching the green.

    Breaking down all 18 holes of British Open host Turnberry 2009

  • It's about PETA, once again, showing that they are a bunch of fuckin 'whack-jobs.

    Friday Pix archmage 2008

  • With Rasheed Wallace (calf) and Allen Iverson (back) also out, the Pistons were missing a combined average of 48.5 points per game, and were out of whack from the start.

    USATODAY.com 2008

  • A good whack from a silver string axe leaves your big turkey ghost just a cold casserole.

    Superhero Prose Fiction: Silver John - O Ugly Bird! Blue Tyson 2007

  • A good whack from a silver string axe leaves your big turkey ghost just a cold casserole.

    Archive 2007-11-01 Blue Tyson 2007

  • Paddy-whack is a pathetic critter - a true example of obsessive-compulsive behavior.

    Sound Politics: More on the bogus finding in the voter registration court case 2006

  • First let me say this is the whackest anime I've seen, it beats the final two episodes of Neon Genesis because Lain has been whack from the beginning.

    Who are you? 2004

  • First let me say this is the whackest anime I've seen, it beats the final two episodes of Neon Genesis because Lain has been whack from the beginning.

    January 2004 2004

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • "A whacking fine whip, said Lenehan, is W. Lane."

    Joyce, Ulysses, 14

    January 21, 2007

  • Note that even WeirdNet doesn't try to say this has any relationship to goofy, weird or wacky.

    October 14, 2008

  • "'Barack Obama.' Sounds expensive. Never seen one in the Wal-Mart, anyhow. You know, come to think of it, I bet it's somethin' for the computer. Everything's for computers nowadays. Could be one of them new-fangled electronic gadgets, too, I s'pose. Something you watch the videos on. But I already got me a TV set, so unless this Barack Obama thing does something useful like whack weeds, I think I'll pass."

    - Lyle Dixon, 'What In The Heck's A Barack Obama?', theonion.com, 29 Oct 2008.

    October 30, 2008

  • @Asativum: That's because you're thinking of wack.

    January 22, 2009

  • tAKE nOTES:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tt-WIdmCVQ

    April 11, 2010