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whack - 11 dictionary results

whack

  [hwak, wak]
Use whack in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to strike with a smart, resounding blow or blows.
2. Slang. to divide into or take in shares (often fol. by up): Whack the loot between us two.
–verb (used without object)
3. to strike a smart, resounding blow or blows.
–noun
4. a smart, resounding blow: a whack with his hand.
5. Informal. a trial or attempt: to take a whack at a job.
6. Slang. a portion or share.
—Verb phrases
7. whack off,
a. to cut off or separate with a blow: The cook whacked off the fish's head.
b. Slang: Vulgar. to masturbate.
8. whack out, Slang. to produce quickly or, sometimes, carelessly: She whacks out a short story every week or so.
—Idiom
9. out of whack, Informal. out of order or alignment; not in proper condition.
Origin:
1710–20; orig. dial., Scots form of thwack; cf. whang 2 , whittle

Related forms:
whacker, noun

Synonyms:
5. try, go, turn.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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whack   (hwāk, wāk)   
v.   whacked, whack·ing, whacks

v.   tr.
  1. To strike (someone or something) with a sharp blow; slap.
  2. Slang To kill deliberately; murder.
v.   intr.
To deal a sharp, resounding blow.
n.  
  1. A sharp, swift blow.
  2. The sound made by a sharp, swift blow.
Phrasal Verb(s):
whack off Vulgar Slang To masturbate.

Idiom(s):
have/take a whack at Informal To try out; attempt.

Idiom(s):
out of whack Informal Improperly ordered or balanced; not functioning correctly.

Idiom(s):
whacked out Slang
  1. Exhausted.
  2. Crazy.
  3. Under the influence of a mind-altering drug.

[Probably imitative.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Whack

Whack\, v. t. To divide into shares; as, to whack the spoils of a robbery; -- often with up. [Slang]

Whack

Whack\, n. A portion; share; allowance. [Slang]

Out of whack, out of order. [Slang]

Whack

Whack\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Whacked; p. pr. & vb. n. Whacking.] [Cf. Thwack.] To strike; to beat; to give a heavy or resounding blow to; to thrash; to make with whacks. [Colloq.]

Rodsmen were whackingtheir way through willow brakes. --G. W. Cable.

Whack

Whack\, v. i. To strike anything with a smart blow.

To whack away, to continue striking heavy blows; as, to whack away at a log. [Colloq.]

Whack

Whack\, n. A smart resounding blow. [Colloq.]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : whack
Spanish: pegar, zurrar,
German: vermöbeln,
Japanese: ぴしゃりと打つ
More Translations »

whack

v. According to arch-hacker James Gosling (designer of NeWS, GOSMACS and Java), to "...modify a program with no idea whatsoever how it works." (See whacker.) It is actually possible to do this in nontrivial circumstances if the change is small and well-defined and you are very good at glarking things from context. As a trivial example, it is relatively easy to change all `stderr' writes to `stdout' writes in a piece of C filter code which remains otherwise mysterious.
Jargon File 4.2.0
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whack  (v.)
"to strike sharply," 1719, probably of imitative origin. The noun is from 1737. The word in out of whack (1885) is perhaps the slang meaning "share, just portion" (1785), which may be from the notion of the blow that divides, or the rap of the auctioneer's hammer.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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whack
According to arch-hacker James Gosling, to "...modify a program with no idea whatsoever how it works." (See whacker.) It is actually possible to do this in nontrivial circumstances if the change is small and well-defined and you are very good at glarking things from context. As a trivial example, it is relatively easy to change all "stderr" writes to "stdout" writes in a piece of C filter code which remains otherwise mysterious.
[The Jargon File]

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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whack

In addition to the idioms beginning with whack, also see have a crack (whack) at; out of kilter (whack).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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