overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

spank.

To beat, smack or slap a person's buttocks, with the bare hand or other object, as punishment, or for sexual gratification.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈspæŋk/[ˈspæŋk]/ˈspeɪ̯ŋk/Canada, US[ˈspeɪ̯ŋk] ~ /ˈspɛ̃ŋk/Canada, US
  1. To beat, smack or slap a person's buttocks, with the bare hand or other object, as punishment, or for sexual gratification.

    transitive
  2. To soundly defeat, to trounce.

    transitive
  3. To hit very hard.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

Uncertain. Possibly imitative, or perhaps a special use of Etymology 2 (below) in the sense of a horse stamping its foot against the ground. There is no evidence of a relation with Portuguese espancar (“to batter, strike”).

noun/ˈspæŋk/[ˈspæŋk]/ˈspeɪ̯ŋk/Canada, US[ˈspeɪ̯ŋk] ~ /ˈspɛ̃ŋk/Canada, US
  1. An instance of spanking, separately or part of a multiple blows-beating; a smack, swat, or slap.

  2. A slapping sound, as produced by spanking.

  3. An instance of masturbation.

    euphemistic · slang
    spank bank
    to have a quick spank
Where this word comes from

Uncertain. Possibly imitative, or perhaps a special use of Etymology 2 (below) in the sense of a horse stamping its foot against the ground. There is no evidence of a relation with Portuguese espancar (“to batter, strike”).

verb/ˈspæŋk/[ˈspæŋk]/ˈspeɪ̯ŋk/Canada, US[ˈspeɪ̯ŋk] ~ /ˈspɛ̃ŋk/Canada, US
  1. To move quickly and nimbly on foot; to stride or run at a brisk pace.

    intransitive
  2. To move or turn rapidly, as the gears of a machine or the sails of a ship.

    intransitive
    The ship was really spanking along.
  3. To shoot out or throw violently; to hurl or knock out.

    ambitransitive
Where this word comes from

Uncertain. Likely of Dutch or Low German origin. Compare North Frisian spanke (“to step with pride”), Saterland Frisian spankje (“to splash”), dialectal Dutch spanken (“to limp, hobble”), Dutch spankeren (“to run away quickly, gallop off”), German Low German spenkern (“to burst, explode, shatter, splash, spray”), Danish spanke (“to strut”), Swedish spånka (“to strut proudly”); originally, equivalent to span + -k. Compare also dialectal English spang (“to leap, bound; shoot out, fling”).

noun/ˈspæŋk/[ˈspæŋk]/ˈspeɪ̯ŋk/Canada, US[ˈspeɪ̯ŋk] ~ /ˈspɛ̃ŋk/Canada, US
  1. A leap or bound.

    dialectal
Where this word comes from

Uncertain. Likely of Dutch or Low German origin. Compare North Frisian spanke (“to step with pride”), Saterland Frisian spankje (“to splash”), dialectal Dutch spanken (“to limp, hobble”), Dutch spankeren (“to run away quickly, gallop off”), German Low German spenkern (“to burst, explode, shatter, splash, spray”), Danish spanke (“to strut”), Swedish spånka (“to strut proudly”); originally, equivalent to span + -k. Compare also dialectal English spang (“to leap, bound; shoot out, fling”).

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

spank has 5 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

spank studiospank workshello, spank

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.