whack

Etymology

Uncertain. Originally Scottish; probably onomatopoeic, but compare Middle English thakken < Old English þaccian (whence Modern thwack by conflation with whack).

noun

1. The sound of a heavy strike.
2. The strike itself.
   Saka was a threat from the first whistle; Ukraine rightly wary of him and dishing out the usual whacks. March 26 2023, David Hytner, “Kane and Bukayo Saka combine against Ukraine for England’s perfect Euros start”, in The Guardian
3. The stroke itself, regardless of its successful impact.
4. (US, slang) An attempt, a chance, a turn, a go, originally an attempt to beat someone or something.
   C'mon. Take a whack at it.
   40 bucks a whack.
5. (originally UK cant, somewhat dated) A share, a portion, especially a full share or large portion.
   “[…] O'Cannon's a taxpayer. He pays his whack towards the upkeep of the State School up in town—” 1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter VII, in Capricornia, New York: Appleton, page 108
   For one thing I had a splendid supper when I got on board—a whack of cold, lean beef and pighells, bread, butter ad lib., tea, and plenty of good bread. 1951, Katherine Mansfield, Letters to John Middleton Murry, 1913-1922
   There were problems over the installation of the engine and the handling. The team had paid top whack for the two Coopers, but the company gave them no help at all. 2014, Anthony Pritchard, Grand Prix Ferrari, page 203
6. (obsolete) A whack-up: a division of an amount into separate whacks, a divvying up.
7. (US, obsolete) A deal, an agreement.
   It's a whack!
8. (dated, disco-era drug slang) PCP, phencyclidine (as also wack).
9. (typography, computing, slang) The backslash, ⟨ \ ⟩.
   del c:\docs\readme.txt Delete c colon whack docs whack readme dot text.

verb

1. To hit, slap or strike.
   The bat whacked the baseball.
   G. W. Cable Rodsmen were whacking their way through willow brakes.
2. (slang) To kill, bump off.
   Niko Bellic: So you want me to talk to him? / Jimmy Pegorino: I want you to whack him! And after that I want you to kill all the other rats I surround myself with... 2008-04-29, Rockstar, Grand Theft Auto 4, Take-Two Interactive, level/area: Flatline
   Ken Barrett, a loyalist gunman who eventually confessed to killing Mr. Finucane on orders from the paramilitary Ulster Defense Association, told a BBC investigative reporter, John Ware, that when he’d expressed reluctance about “whacking” a solicitor[…] 2023-08-30, Megan K. Stack, Rob Stothard, “He Was Shot 14 Times at the Dinner Table. His Children Want to Know if Britain Ordered the Hit.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
3. (transitive, slang) To share or parcel out (often with up).
   to whack the spoils of a robbery
   When the sewer-hunters consider they have searched long enough […] the gang […] count out the money they have picked up, and proceed to dispose of the old metal, bones, rope, &c.; this done, they then, as they term it, “whack” the whole lot; that is, they divide it equally among all hands. 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, volume 2, London: G. Newbold, page 152
4. (sports) To beat convincingly; to thrash.
   The fidgety Majors were whacked 9-1 by the Kitchener Panthers at Couch and now trail their rivals 2-0 in an increasingly uncomfortable best-of-seven Intercounty Baseball League first-round series. 2012, Ryan Pyette, Majors, Panthers play mind games, The London Free Press
5. (UK, chiefly in the negative) To surpass; to better.
   Recently I was over in Ireland, I love the place, proper fishing, can't whack it! 2012, Steve Cullen, Total Flyfisher

adj

1. Alternative form of wack (“crazy”)
   That's whack, yo!
   As they joked about the big butts on female celebrities and what rappers had the whackest lyrics, Malcolm paid little attention to Kalia besides squeezing her hand or grabbing her arm to hold himself up […] 2007, Joyce E. Davis, Can't Stop The Shine, page 51