whack
/ˈwæk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.43 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An attempt, a chance, a turn, a go, originally an attempt to beat someone or something.
Countable; Slang; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Saka was a threat from the first whistle; Ukraine rightly wary of him and dishing out the usual whacks."
- "C'mon. Take a whack at it."
- "40 bucks a whack."
- "The number arrested is not over 600 — at $805 a whack, New Jersey has made half-a-million dollars arresting gay men."
- "I don’t care about much wine afterwards—I take my whack at dinner—I mean my share, you know; and when I have had as much as I want I toddle up to tea."
- "“It’s damned tame, whatever it is, comin’ in here at feedin’ time an’ gettin’ its whack of fish.”"
Etymology
Uncertain. Originally Scottish; probably onomatopoeic, but compare Middle English thakken, from Old English þaccian (whence Modern thwack by conflation with whack). Sense 6 of the verb is likely a semantic loan from Malay hentam (“to strike; to do something carelessly”).
Usage
- Countable
- Uncountable
- Slang
- Dated
- Obsolete
- American usage
- Transitive verb
- British usage