whacked; whacking; whacks
1
a
: to strike with a smart or resounding blow
whack the ball
b
: to cut with or as if with a whack : chop
2
chiefly British
: to get the better of : defeat
: to strike a smart or resounding blow
whacker
noun
Phrases
out of whack
1
: out of proper order or shape
threw his knee out of whack
2
: not in accord
feeling out of whack with her contemporaries—
S. E. Rubin
S. E. RubinExamples of whack in a Sentence
Verb
She whacked the piñata with a stick.
The old man lifted his cane and whacked the mugger on the head.
They were whacking through the jungle with their machetes.
He got whacked by mobsters.
Noun
The pile of books hit the floor with a whack.
took a whack at solving the math problem
Recent Examples on the Web
George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2025
Alas, the thick-headed goon that Vito sends to whack Frank in the lobby of his lux Manhattan apartment building (a swollen and unrecognizable Cosmo Jarvis as the aptly named Vincent Gigante) fails to follow through with a double-tap, and Frank survives with a scratch to the head.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 19 Mar. 2025
Shelby Wax, Vogue, 9 Apr. 2025
What if Auriemma’s Dodgers and Yankees aren’t UConn and South Carolina but mid-majors or Power 4 also-rans that no one expects?
‘So out of whack’
As if the two extremes weren’t complicated enough, Monday’s hearing comes during a complex time in women’s basketball.
—Matt Baker, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for whack
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Verb
Right now, Trump and Congress could whack Medicaid and give Newsom a solid rationale for cutting way back on healthcare for undocumented Californians.
—George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2025
Alas, the thick-headed goon that Vito sends to whack Frank in the lobby of his lux Manhattan apartment building (a swollen and unrecognizable Cosmo Jarvis as the aptly named Vincent Gigante) fails to follow through with a double-tap, and Frank survives with a scratch to the head.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 19 Mar. 2025
Noun
But as of late, that theorem has gone all out of whack.
—Shelby Wax, Vogue, 9 Apr. 2025
What if Auriemma’s Dodgers and Yankees aren’t UConn and South Carolina but mid-majors or Power 4 also-rans that no one expects?
‘So out of whack’
As if the two extremes weren’t complicated enough, Monday’s hearing comes during a complex time in women’s basketball.
—Matt Baker, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for whack
Cite this Entry
“Whack.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whack. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
whack
1 of 2 verb
ˈhwak 
ˈwak
: to hit or cut with a hard noisy blow
whacked the ball into left field
whacker
noun
whack
2 of 2 noun1
: a hard noisy blow
also
: its sound
2
: try entry 2, attempt
take a whack at it
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