zonk

verb

ˈzäŋk How to pronounce zonk (audio)
ˈzȯŋk
zonked; zonking; zonks

transitive verb

: stun, stupefy
also : strike, zap
often used with out

intransitive verb

: to pass out from or as if from alcohol or a drug
often used with out

Examples of zonk in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Cyber crooks often use malware to attack your computers and either zonk your computer or threaten you or steal from you. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2023 Given escalating doses — ones that would normally zonk out someone without the disorder — people with catatonia begin to unfreeze and emerge. Julia Michie Bruckner, Discover Magazine, 27 Apr. 2020 New adventures expend both their mental and physical energy, and usually zonk them out afterward. Cathy M. Rosenthal, San Antonio Express-News, 11 Mar. 2021 Relatively few zonked rock fans heard the only important piece of music to come out of the 1969 get-together. Robert Christgau, Los Angeles Times, 13 Aug. 2019 So what happens if your car heater zonks out in mid-January? Zachary Palmer, Popular Mechanics, 11 Nov. 2019 When her mom was zonked out, Sandi’s older sister Rhonda stepped in as a surrogate parent, making Sandi, the baby of the family, dinner and taking her to school. cleveland.com, 24 Sep. 2019 Surprising Factoid: Even zonked on sleeping pills, one can still order fur coats and a restaurant’s worth of Chinese food. Alison Murphy, WSJ, 16 Nov. 2018 By this time, everybody is off the bus rolling in the brown grass by the shoulder, laughing, giggling, yahooing, zonked to the skies on acid, because, mon, the woods are burning, the whole world is on fire. Jeet Heer, The New Republic, 15 May 2018

Word History

Etymology

probably imitative

First Known Use

1950, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of zonk was in 1950

Dictionary Entries Near zonk

Cite this Entry

“Zonk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zonk. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.

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