thunk

1 of 3

dialectal past tense and past participle of think

thunk

2 of 3

noun

: a flat hollow sound

thunk

3 of 3

verb

thunked; thunking; thunks

intransitive verb

: to produce a flat hollow sound : make a thunk

Examples of thunk in a Sentence

Noun The book landed on the floor with a thunk.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The clank and ratchet of metal on metal and the thunk of a round being rammed into the breech all recalled the mechanics of ancient cannon and trebuchet, despite the advanced targeting hardware. Hope Hodge Seck, Popular Mechanics, 21 Aug. 2023 Little wonder the doors close with the same pleasing thunk as those on the Merc. Ben Oliver, Robb Report, 11 Mar. 2023 After the report made its great thunk, nothing of the sort happened. Carl Zimmer, Discover Magazine, 25 Feb. 2011 Brightly colored targets downrange bore the brunt with a muffled thunk. Beth Mlady, cleveland, 12 Nov. 2022
Verb
The Coliseum is the place to be — who would have thunk it? John Shea, San Francisco Chronicle, 7 May 2023 Larry Fink, well, who’d have thunk it? Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 24 Mar. 2022 Who woulda thunk it? Amby Burfoot, Outside Online, 13 May 2021 Who would have ever thunk that? Bill Keveney, USA TODAY, 6 May 2021 Walking indoors with a Gita is a little bit like trailing something on a string; round a corner too sharply and the robot will thunk into the wall. Kyle Stock, Fortune, 10 Dec. 2022 Who'd've thunk a bearded dragon would be just the right complement to these space-age, holographic nails? Chelsea Avila, Allure, 15 Aug. 2022 Designing a new car is the easy bit; building it to scale with doors that thunk nicely is really hard. Ben Oliver, Robb Report, 6 Feb. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'thunk.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

imitative

First Known Use

Noun

1947, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1949, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of thunk was in 1947

Dictionary Entries Near thunk

Cite this Entry

“Thunk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thunk. Accessed 22 Sep. 2023.

Kids Definition

thunk

verb
ˈthəŋk
: to make a flat hollow sound
thunk noun

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