zonk

/zɒŋk/

Other forms: zonked; zonking; zonks

To zonk is to hit someone hard, the way the mouse zonks the cat in his head over and over in the classic cartoon Tom and Jerry.

The verb zonk started as a slang term inspired by the sound that might result from bashing or clobbering someone. It's also used to describe the stupefied or stunned result of being zonked in the head: "He'll zonk out for a while after getting tackled in the football game." Or you can use it for something that stops working abruptly: "My laptop zonked out, so I couldn't do the homework!"

Definitions of zonk

1. verb

   deliver a sharp blow, as with the hand, fist, or weapon
   synonyms: strike

   collide with, hit, impinge on, run into, strike

   hit against; come into sudden contact with

   types:

   jab

   strike or punch with quick and short blows

   dab, pat

   hit lightly

   bunt, butt

   to strike, thrust or shove against

   knock, strike hard

   deliver a sharp blow or push :"He knocked the glass clear across the room"

   cut down, down, knock down, pull down, push down

   cause to come or go down

   spur

   strike with a spur

   beak, peck, pick

   hit lightly with a picking motion

   tap, tip

   strike lightly

   hew

   strike with an axe; cut down, strike

   sideswipe

   strike from the side

   lash, whip

   strike as if by whipping

   beat

   hit repeatedly

   beat

   strike (a part of one's own body) repeatedly, as in great emotion or in accompaniment to music

   sclaff

   strike (the ground) in making a sclaff

   clout

   strike hard, especially with the fist

   knap, rap

   strike sharply

   chop

   strike sharply, as in some sports

   slap

   hit with something flat, like a paddle or the open hand

   sclaff

   strike (a golf ball) such that the ground is scraped first

   batter, buffet, knock about

   strike against forcefully

   headbutt

   butt with the head

   submarine

   bring down with a blow to the legs

   percuss

   strike or tap firmly

   snag

   hew jaggedly

   full

   beat for the purpose of cleaning and thickening

   beat

   strike (water or bushes) repeatedly to rouse animals for hunting

   beetle

   beat with a beetle

   bastinado

   beat somebody on the soles of the feet

   coldcock, deck, dump, floor, knock down

   knock down with force

   whang

   beat with force

   paste

   hit with the fists

   knock

   rap with the knuckles

   thrash, thresh

   beat the seeds out of a grain

   hammer

   beat with or as if with a hammer

   cuff, whomp

   hit with the hand

   urticate

   whip with or as with nettles

   type of:

   touch

   make physical contact with, come in contact with
2. verb

   make senseless or dizzy by or as if by a blow
   synonyms: stun, stupefy

   type of:

   immobilise, immobilize

   cause to be unable to move