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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

thwack.

To hit (someone or something) hard, especially with a flat implement or a stick; to thrash, to whack.

6 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/θwæk/General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. To hit (someone or something) hard, especially with a flat implement or a stick; to thrash, to whack.

    transitive
  2. To drive or force (someone or something) by, or as if by, beating or hitting; to knock.

    also · figuratively · transitive
  3. To pack (people or things) closely together; to cram.

    transitive
  4. To decisively defeat (someone) in a contest; to beat, to thrash.

    figuratively · transitive
  5. To crowd or pack (a place or thing) with people, objects, etc.

    obsolete · transitive
  6. To fall down hard with a thump.

    intransitive
  7. To be crammed or filled full.

    intransitive · obsolete
  8. Of people: to crowd or pack a place.

    intransitive · obsolete · rare
Where this word comes from

The verb is probably: * partly onomatopoeic, from the sound of something being beaten (compare whack); and * partly derived from Late Middle English twakken, twake (“to hit (someone) with something; to pat; to stroke”), probably from Middle English thakken, thakke (“to dab; to pat; to stroke”) [and other forms] (whence thack (obsolete except Britain, dialectal)), from Old English þaccian (“to beat; to pat; to touch softly, stroke; to strike gently, clap, tap”), from Proto-West Germanic *þakkōn, from Proto-Germanic *þakwōną (“to pat; to tap; to touch”), from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- (“to grasp with the hand; to touch”). Doublet of tangent. The noun and interjection are derived from the verb. Cognates * Latin tangō (“touch”) * Old Dutch þakolōn (“to stroke”) * Old Norse þykkr (“a blow, thump, thwack”) (Icelandic þjaka, þjökka (“to beat, thump, thwack”); Norwegian tjåka (“to strike, beat”))

noun/θwæk/General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. An act of hitting hard, especially with a flat implement or a stick; a whack; also, a powerful stroke involved in such hitting; a blow, a strike.

  2. A dull or heavy slapping sound.

Where this word comes from

The verb is probably: * partly onomatopoeic, from the sound of something being beaten (compare whack); and * partly derived from Late Middle English twakken, twake (“to hit (someone) with something; to pat; to stroke”), probably from Middle English thakken, thakke (“to dab; to pat; to stroke”) [and other forms] (whence thack (obsolete except Britain, dialectal)), from Old English þaccian (“to beat; to pat; to touch softly, stroke; to strike gently, clap, tap”), from Proto-West Germanic *þakkōn, from Proto-Germanic *þakwōną (“to pat; to tap; to touch”), from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- (“to grasp with the hand; to touch”). Doublet of tangent. The noun and interjection are derived from the verb. Cognates * Latin tangō (“touch”) * Old Dutch þakolōn (“to stroke”) * Old Norse þykkr (“a blow, thump, thwack”) (Icelandic þjaka, þjökka (“to beat, thump, thwack”); Norwegian tjåka (“to strike, beat”))

intj/θwæk/General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. Used to represent the dull or heavy sound of someone or something being hit or slapped.

Where this word comes from

The verb is probably: * partly onomatopoeic, from the sound of something being beaten (compare whack); and * partly derived from Late Middle English twakken, twake (“to hit (someone) with something; to pat; to stroke”), probably from Middle English thakken, thakke (“to dab; to pat; to stroke”) [and other forms] (whence thack (obsolete except Britain, dialectal)), from Old English þaccian (“to beat; to pat; to touch softly, stroke; to strike gently, clap, tap”), from Proto-West Germanic *þakkōn, from Proto-Germanic *þakwōną (“to pat; to tap; to touch”), from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- (“to grasp with the hand; to touch”). Doublet of tangent. The noun and interjection are derived from the verb. Cognates * Latin tangō (“touch”) * Old Dutch þakolōn (“to stroke”) * Old Norse þykkr (“a blow, thump, thwack”) (Icelandic þjaka, þjökka (“to beat, thump, thwack”); Norwegian tjåka (“to strike, beat”))

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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.