whack

verb

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\ ˈ(h)wak

whacked; whacking; whacks

Definition of whack

(Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

1a : to strike with a smart or resounding blow whack the ball

b : to cut with or as if with a whack : chop

2 chiefly British : to get the better of : defeat

3 slang : murder, kill

intransitive verb

: to strike a smart or resounding blow

whack

noun

Definition of whack (Entry 2 of 2)

1a : a smart or resounding blow also : the sound of or as if of such a blow

b : a critical attack

2 : portion, share

3 : condition, state

4a : an opportunity or attempt to do something take a whack at it

b : a single action or occasion borrowed $50 all at one whack

out of whack

1 : out of proper order or shape threw his knee out of whack

2 : not in accord feeling out of whack with her contemporaries— S. E. Rubin

Other Words from whack Synonyms More Example Sentences Phrases Containing whack Learn More About whack

Examples of whack in a Sentence

Verb She whacked the piñata with a stick. The old man lifted his cane and whacked the mugger on the head. They were whacking through the jungle with their machetes. He got whacked by mobsters. Noun The pile of books hit the floor with a whack. took a whack at solving the math problem See More

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb The war could whack a full percentage point off global GDP growth this year, the OECD calculates, and push the global inflation rate up by a further 2.5%. — Bernhard Warner, Fortune, 29 Mar. 2022 These felt weak: the combat in Pokémon has been honed over many generations; these parts felt akin to stopping a game of Halo to play whack a mole. — Will Bedingfield, Wired, 2 Feb. 2022 Even Andy Roddick, the former world No. 1, got cheeky on the subject, taking to Twitter last week with a tongue-in-cheek tutorial on how to safely smash a racket and whack a ball without endangering anyone. — New York Times, 30 Mar. 2022 Cross-border drug smuggling has been a whack-a-mole process for decades and, as always, there will be efforts by cartels to work around the latest U.S. tactics. — San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Mar. 2022 Trying to refute these claims is like playing whack-a-mole. — Steven Salzberg, Forbes, 27 Dec. 2021 That whack-a-mole strategy has been largely effective. — Washington Post, 5 Jan. 2022 That whack-a-mole strategy has been largely effective. — Christian Shepherd, Anchorage Daily News, 5 Jan. 2022 To see how out of whack the current environment has become because of inflation, look at the longer-term graph of interest rates vs the CPI annual rate of change (the red, dotted line). — John S. Tobey, Forbes, 26 Dec. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The traditional upfronts were thrown out the window, and scheduling thrown out of whack due to production starts and stops. — Michael Schneider, Variety, 16 May 2022 From the narrow viewpoint of economics, the pandemic threw supply and demand for a vast variety of goods and services out of whack, and that has baffled policymakers. — New York Times, 6 May 2022 Now, though, the scale bar is different, and our collective sense for what constitutes a concerning case jump is totally out of whack. — Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 5 May 2022 Over time, the populations of the districts get out of whack as people move from one district to another. — Patrick Marley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 29 Apr. 2022 The old infotainment system and the whack-job styling aren't for everyone, but for them, there's the RAV4 Prime at $349 per month for 36 months with $3999 at signing. — Clifford Atiyeh, Car and Driver, 8 Feb. 2022 These days, eveningwear is full of strong shapes, proportions thrown wonderfully out of whack, and black-tie suiting dripping with jewels. — Vogue, 25 Apr. 2022 But the labor market of 2022 is showing a different kind of tightness, one that many policymakers and economists argue is fundamentally out of whack. — Rachel Siegel, Anchorage Daily News, 11 Apr. 2022 An enthusiastic display of unusual emotion could throw you out of whack you today. — Tarot Astrologers, chicagotribune.com, 10 Apr. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'whack.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.