zonked; zonking; zonks
: 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
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
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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
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'zonk.' 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
probably imitative
First Known Use
1950, in the meaning defined at transitive sense
Dictionary Entries Near zonk
Cite this Entry
“Zonk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zonk. Accessed 8 Dec. 2023.
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