whack

(hwăk, wăk)

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:

whack off Vulgar Slang.

1. To masturbate.

idioms:

have (or take) a whack at Informal.

1. To try out; attempt.

out of whack Informal.

1. Improperly ordered or balanced; not functioning correctly.

whacked out Slang.

1. Exhausted.
2. Crazy.
3. Under the influence of a mind-altering drug.

[Probably imitative.]

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verb

1. To deliver a powerful blow to suddenly and sharply: bash, catch, clout, hit, knock, pop¹, slam, slog, slug³, smash, smite, sock, strike, swat, thwack, wham, whop. Informal biff, bop, clip¹, wallop. Slang belt, conk, paste. Idioms: let someone have it, sock it to someone. See attack/defend, strike/miss.
2. To hit with a quick, sharp blow of the hand: box², buffet, bust, cuff, punch, slap, smack¹, spank, swat. Informal clip¹, spat. See attack/defend, strike/miss.
3. To strike, set down, or close in such a way as to make a loud noise: bang, clap, crash, slam. See sounds/pleasant sounds/unpleasant sounds/neutral sounds or silence.

noun

1. A sudden sharp, powerful stroke: bang, blow², clout, crack, hit, lick, pound, slug³, sock, swat, thwack, welt, wham, whop. Informal bash, biff, bop, clip¹, wallop. Slang belt, conk, paste. See attack/defend, strike/miss.
2. A quick, sharp blow, especially with the hand: box², buffet, bust, chop¹, cuff, punch, slap, smack¹, smacker, spank, swat. Informal clip¹, spat. See attack/defend, strike/miss.
3. A brief trial: crack, go, stab, try. Informal fling, shot, whirl. See try.

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

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.

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1. whack
   noun, orig and mainly US
   
   1: A share, portion. (1785 —) .
   M. Binchy They still had to pay a huge whack of the wedding reception cost, and the cake, and the limousines (1988).
   
   2: A chance; a turn or attempt, a 'go'; esp. in phr. to have (or take) a whack (at). (1884 —) .
   Muscular Development Hydrostatic weighing or skinfold techniques...can become expensive at $25 — $40 a whack (1988).
   
   3: out of whack mainly US Out of order, malfunctioning. (1885 —) .
   M. Amis Everything is out of whack at Appleseed Rectory; its rooms are without bearing and without certainty (1975).
   
   4: top (or full) whack Brit A very high (esp. the highest) price or rate. (1978 —) .
   Money Observer Payments then rise by 5.0 per cent a year, so you pay the full whack after eight or nine years (1989). verb
   
   5: trans. To share, divide; often followed by up. (1812 —) .
   Coast to Coast I'll whack up the breakfast, then, and see how poor bloody Bill's getting on (1961).
   
   6: to whack off intr. US To masturbate. Cf. to toss off at toss verb 1. (1969 —) .
   Transatlantic Review 'What-in-hell you do for sex anyway?' he asked the boy one night. 'Whack off into the tin pot where they keep the mashed potatoes?' (1977).
   
2. whack
   noun
   
   Variant of wack noun.
   

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Next:	whacked, whacko, whacky

For a list of words related to whack, see:

• Descriptions of Sounds
• Violent Actions - whack: strike with solid blow
• Murder and Suicide - whack: (vb) Slang. murder

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See words rhyming with "whack."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Whack.

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - klaske, banke, uddele
v. intr. - afgøre et mellemværende
n. - slag, klask, bank, andel

Nederlands (Dutch)
klap, poging, meppen, delen

Français (French)
v. tr. - battre, frapper, (GB) piler (fam), (fig) réduire
v. intr. - porter un grand coup (à qn)
n. - grand coup, part, (GB) gros salaire, (payer) le maximum, essai, (avoir) la primeur

idioms:

• have a whack at    essayer de faire qch
• out of whack    mal rangé (placard), blessé (bras)
• whack off    se branler (vulg)

Deutsch (German)
v. - hauen, erschöpfen
n. - Schlag, (Slang) Versuch, (Slang) Anteil

idioms:

• have a whack at    etw. probieren
• out of whack    (Am.) aus dem Leim (ugs.)
• whack off    abschneiden, (Ugs.) wichsen

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - βαρώ, κοπανάω, χαστουκίζω, δέρνω στα ψαχνά
n. - απόπειρα, δοκιμή, προσπάθεια, χτύπημα, (καθομ.) μερτικό, (δίκαιο) μερίδιο
int. - γκαπ!

Italiano (Italian)
picchiato, picchiare, botta

Português (Portuguese)
v. - golpear, derrotar
n. - pancada forte (f)
int. - bum!

Русский (Russian)
сильный удар, доля, попытка, хорошее состояние чего-л., бить, разбить, выделять долю, вгрызаться в работу

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - golpear, aporrear, pegar, vapulear, derrotar (en un juego)
v. intr. - dar golpes, repartir golpazos
n. - golpe, porrazo, bofetada, palmada

idioms:

• have a whack at    dar una oportunidad
• out of whack    fuera de funcionamiento
• whack off    hacerse la paja

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - smälla till, dela
n. - smäll, andel
int. - bom

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
敲击, 瓜分, 重打, 重击, 尝试

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 敲擊, 瓜分, 重打
v. intr. - 重擊
n. - 重擊, 嘗試, 重打

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - (지팡이 따위로) 철썩 때리다, ~을 나누다, 쳐서 끊다
v. intr. - 철썩 치다
n. - 철썩 치기, 기도, 몫

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 打ち負かす, 強打する, バシッと強くたたく
n. - 殴打, 安打

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يضرب بشدة (الاسم) ضربه شديدة, دوي هذه الضربه, حصه, نصيب, فرصه, محاوله (نداء) تاخ تيخ, صوت الضربه !‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮היכה, הלקה, הצליף, חילק (עגה)‬
v. intr. - ‮היכה, הלקה, הצליף‬
n. - ‮הצלפה, קול חבטה, ניסיון, חלק‬

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