thwack

1 of 2

verb

thwacked; thwacking; thwacks

transitive verb

: to strike with or as if with something flat or heavy : whack

thwack

2 of 2

noun

: a heavy blow : whack
also : the sound of or as if of such a blow

Examples of thwack in a Sentence

Verb A book fell off the shelf and thwacked me on the head. thwacked the growling dog on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper Noun he gave the ball a hard thwack with the bat and sent it deep into the outfield even from the top of the bleachers we could hear the loud thwack of the ball being hit
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
No more thwacking away at cold dough on your countertop. Shilpa Uskokovic, Bon Appétit, 8 Dec. 2023 The videos had been spliced into a mash-up and served to me on Instagram as a looping carousel of orange squares thwacking babies silly. Amanda Hess, New York Times, 25 Sep. 2023 The biggest barrier to recycling the rubber in the ball is the difficulty of removing the felt from the rubber core because of the tight glue designed to hold that cover on when it's thwacked by a racket. CBS News, 6 Sep. 2023 Sometimes, there’s just one kid in the class who needs to be thwacked for good measure. Time, 25 Aug. 2023 The lead staff member, a thin Ukrainian woman wearing a turban, offered to thwack people’s lat muscles with the branches—an Eastern European tradition that is said to move circulation and release toxins. Rachel Syme, The New Yorker, 14 July 2023 But the constant fear of getting thwacked is too much. Shannon Larson, BostonGlobe.com, 7 July 2023 Another woman kept accidentally thwacking fellow showgoers with an enormous Vuitton bag shaped like an airplane. Rachel Tashjian, Washington Post, 21 June 2023 The hours before a baseball game have a languor to them: kids gawking on the edges of the field, big-leaguers thwacking batting-practice home runs. Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 12 June 2023
Noun
The sound off the racquet of Ben Shelton’s flat serve is a thwack cranked to eleven. Gerald Marzorati, The New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2023 The main character is newly retired, hobbled by complications from hip replacement surgery, and trying to write his first novel while enduring the irritating thwack, thwack, thwack from his neighbor’s pickleball court. Beth Teitell, BostonGlobe.com, 14 Aug. 2023 Then, the methodical thwack of the receptionist’s pumps would sound down the long hallway as the girls swivelled towards her from their respective stations—pulling towels from the dryer, applying lipstick at the vanity, melting into the couch in a cloud of cigarettes and Pink Sugar perfume. Hazlitt, 12 July 2023 Herewith then are a few tips for picking the best watermelon: First, give it a good thwack. David Holloway, al, 5 July 2023 The head-on-pine thwack was audible above the Billy Ray, and several adult chaperones screamed. Jonathan Rowe, SPIN, 5 June 2023 Besides the nostalgia factor — flashback to the thwack, thwack, thwack of jumping rope outside with your neighborhood friends — this old-school piece of workout equipment is cheap, portable and provides a ton of fitness benefits. Tatiana Lampa, Good Housekeeping, 4 Aug. 2022 Courier used to love the unique thwack. New York Times, 12 June 2021 In his final two rounds facing the slider machine, Chourio rocketed lasers to all fields, the thwack of the bat reverberating throughout the back fields. Journal Sentinel, 7 Mar. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'thwack.' 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

Verb

imitative

First Known Use

Verb

circa 1530, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1587, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of thwack was circa 1530

Dictionary Entries Near thwack

Cite this Entry

“Thwack.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thwack. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

thwack

verb
ˈthwak
: to strike with or as if with something flat or heavy : whack
thwack noun
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