as in to brain
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Recent Examples of conk
Sonari Glinton, NPR, 7 Jan. 2026
On the way to the conk pad, Mike runs over the f–ing show!
—Jim Ryan, Forbes.com, 24 May 2025
That’s what the slick dude with the conk and the blue Pontiac says to Elwood, who is hitching a ride to get to college.
—Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2024
Everybody had a new car and a conk.
—New York Times, 27 Oct. 2021
This is a fungal conk, probably from the genus Ganoderma, although that’s not my field of expertise.
—Neil Sperry, ExpressNews.com, 8 Oct. 2020
Jordan Hoffman, EW.com, 4 June 2025
Could there be any truth to the fan theory that Greg was hiding on the boat when Tanya killed Quentin and his minions, then fatally conked herself in the head while escaping?
—Judy Berman, TIME, 17 Feb. 2025
River was saved, in a sense, by getting conked in the back of his head, which took him away from the clutches of Hugo Weaving’s Frank Harkness and into the clutches of Natasha (Coralie Audret), who’s anxious to know what brought him into town.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2024
According to rumors, a blazing row on the terrace of their hotel – the San Domenico Palace – ended when Taylor conked Burton on the head with a mandolin.
—John Bleasdale, Variety, 18 June 2023
Why would a woman who has only a stun gun for protection get involved with large amounts of cash and shady strangers, any of whom could simply conk her on the head and rob her?
—Kyle Smith, WSJ, 11 Aug. 2022
The engine might conk out.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 19 Oct. 2021
His team had sputtered and whirred to life only to conk out in spectacular fashion.
—Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2021
While some little ones conk out as soon as the engine starts, others have a difficult time being in the car for hours—or any time at all.
—Amy Marturana Winderl, SELF, 26 Oct. 2020
Noun
The conk, the afro… and the jheri curl.
—Sonari Glinton, NPR, 7 Jan. 2026
On the way to the conk pad, Mike runs over the f–ing show!
—Jim Ryan, Forbes.com, 24 May 2025
That’s what the slick dude with the conk and the blue Pontiac says to Elwood, who is hitching a ride to get to college.
—Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2024
Everybody had a new car and a conk.
—New York Times, 27 Oct. 2021
This is a fungal conk, probably from the genus Ganoderma, although that’s not my field of expertise.
—Neil Sperry, ExpressNews.com, 8 Oct. 2020
Verb
Then — and this is important — she gets conked on the head and wakes up in an entirely different movie.
—Jordan Hoffman, EW.com, 4 June 2025
Could there be any truth to the fan theory that Greg was hiding on the boat when Tanya killed Quentin and his minions, then fatally conked herself in the head while escaping?
—Judy Berman, TIME, 17 Feb. 2025
River was saved, in a sense, by getting conked in the back of his head, which took him away from the clutches of Hugo Weaving’s Frank Harkness and into the clutches of Natasha (Coralie Audret), who’s anxious to know what brought him into town.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2024
According to rumors, a blazing row on the terrace of their hotel – the San Domenico Palace – ended when Taylor conked Burton on the head with a mandolin.
—John Bleasdale, Variety, 18 June 2023
Why would a woman who has only a stun gun for protection get involved with large amounts of cash and shady strangers, any of whom could simply conk her on the head and rob her?
—Kyle Smith, WSJ, 11 Aug. 2022
The engine might conk out.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 19 Oct. 2021
His team had sputtered and whirred to life only to conk out in spectacular fashion.
—Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2021
While some little ones conk out as soon as the engine starts, others have a difficult time being in the car for hours—or any time at all.
—Amy Marturana Winderl, SELF, 26 Oct. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for conk
Noun
-
The tip of Louise’s nose was bright red, which made her eyes seem ferociously blue.—
Douglas Stuart,
New Yorker,
12 Apr. 2026
-
Artemis 2 has come home, but NASA still has its nose to the lunar grindstone.—
Mike Wall,
Space.com,
11 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Retro Rewind is the kind of game that will keep your hands and brain minimally busy while listening to a podcast or watching some rerun on a background TV.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
13 Apr. 2026
-
For example, Google’s state-of-the-art Gemini 3 model was brained on TPUs.—
Kif Leswing,
CNBC,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Birdo is the pink Yoshi-looking dinosaur who can fire eggs from her snout, while Mouser is the giant bomb-throwing mouse with sunglasses.—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Those strolling around downtown Dallas this weekend might have noticed more tails, claws and snouts than usual.—
Jessica Ma,
Dallas Morning News,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
In the last meeting between these teams in early November, Bane beaned Okongwu in the head with the ball after flagrantly fouling him and was ejected from the game.—
John Hollinger,
New York Times,
17 Mar. 2026
-
Detmers came in to face the top of the order and beaned Brandon Nimmo to load the bases for Francisco Lindor, who beat out a double play to score Alvarez, and stole second to put runners on second and third.—
Abbey Mastracco,
New York Daily News,
22 July 2025
Verb
-
The ball was sitting on such tight grass that he easily could have chunked or skulled it.—
Daniel Rapaport,
SI.com,
17 June 2019
-
This leaves one big question: Why were people drilling into one another’s skulls 5,000 years ago in the first place?—
Jason Daley,
Smithsonian,
25 Apr. 2018
Verb
-
Visuals also showed some people receiving CPR. Uncontrollable crowd Police started caning people at one gate, leading to more chaos, said Mithun Singh, a software engineer among the crowd.—
USA Today,
USA Today,
5 June 2025
-
Both failed to fire, and the hero of the Battle of New Orleans, with a hair-trigger temper, began caning the would-be assassin.—
Barbara A. Perry,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
Out of nowhere, D’Angelo speared both men through the announce table.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
5 Apr. 2026
-
As settlers moved into the area and took tribal lands near the river for farming, the Bindjareb resorted to taking the settlers’ crops and spearing their cattle for food.—
Britannica Editors,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Hitler exploited his 37% to gridlock legislative processes, to cudgel or crush the political opposition, and ultimately to undermine the country’s democratic structures.—
Timothy Ryback,
TIME,
26 Apr. 2024
-
Before long, fairs had such attractions as cudgelling bouts, bearbaiting, and something called gouging.—
Zach Helfand,
The New Yorker,
14 Aug. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Conk.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/conk. Accessed 19 Apr. 2026.
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