thwack

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thwack

/θwæk/ US, UK

Rhymes with -æk

Where it 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”))

verb thwacks · thwacking · thwacked · thwack

transitive To hit (someone or something) hard, especially with a flat implement or a stick; to thrash, to whack. This carter thwacketh his horse upon the croup, / And they began to drawen and to stoop.
Similar: thack, bethwack, bang, baste, batter, beat, belabor, blow, clobber, boom-boom, buffet, butt
also, figuratively, transitive To drive or force (someone or something) by, or as if by, beating or hitting; to knock. But let him ſvveare ſo, and he ſhall not ſtay, / VVee'l thvvack him hence vvith Diſtaffes.
transitive To pack (people or things) closely together; to cram. [W]hen hee comes to deſcribe the office of his imaginarie doctor [he] thvvacks fourteene Scriptures into the margent, vvhereof not any one hath any iuſt colour of inference to his purpoſe: […]
figuratively, transitive To decisively defeat (someone) in a contest; to beat, to thrash. 3 [Servingman] VVhy here's he that vvas vvont to thvvacke our Generall, Caius Martius. / 1 VVhy do you ſay, thvvacke our Generall? / 3 I do not ſay thvvacke our Generall, but he vvas alvvayes good enough for him.
obsolete, transitive To crowd or pack (a place or thing) with people, objects, etc. And my lad Aſcanius with a Troian mantel adorning, / Weau'd woorks thwackt with honor, to her gifts this parlye ſhe lincketh.
intransitive To fall down hard with a thump. And see, that urchin, ho-ieroe! / His truant legs they sink from under, / And to the quaking sheet below [i.e., ice on which he has been skating], / Down thwacks he, with a thud like thunder!
intransitive, obsolete To be crammed or filled full. [A]ll that vvere vvithin the audience of theſe vvords and dovvn the Church, vvhich vvas as full as it could thvvack in thick multitudes, gave a loud general applauſe.
intransitive, obsolete, rare Of people: to crowd or pack a place. All the vviſe vvenches i'the Tovvn vvill thvvack to ſuch Sanctuaries, vvhen the times are troubleſome, and Troopers trace the ſtreets in terror.

noun thwacks

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. Him Ralph encountred, and straight grew / A fierce Dispute betwixt them two: / Th'one arm'd with Metall, t'other with Wood; / This fit for bruise, and that for Blood. / With many a stiff thwack, many a bang, / Hard Crab-tree and old Iron rang; / While none that saw them could divine / To which side
Similar: thack
A dull or heavy slapping sound. I had scrambled out of the coach, and was instinctively settling my cravat, when somebody brushed roughly by me, and I heard a smart thwack upon the coachman’s ear. […] And then came a second thwack, aimed at the driver's other ear, but which missed it, and hit him on the nose, causing a terrible ef
Similar: thwomp

interjection

Used to represent the dull or heavy sound of someone or something being hit or slapped. Three watrie clowds ſhymring toe the craft they rampired hizzing, / Three whern's fierd gliſtring, with ſouthwynds rufflered huffling. / Now doe they rayſe gaſtly lightnings, now griſlye reboundings / Of ruffe raffe roaring, mens harts with terror agryſing. / With peale meale ramping, with thwick th

Translations

Every language

verb to hit (someone or something) hard, especially with a flat implement or a stick

Español	arrimar, fajar, hostiar
Français	tabasser
Deutsch	schlagen, verprügeln
Ελληνικά	κοπανίζω kopanízo
Română	plesni

noun act of hitting hard, especially with a flat implement or a stick — see also whack

Español	chingadazo
العربية	كف kaff

noun dull or heavy slapping sound

Deutsch	Knall

intj used to represent the dull or heavy sound of someone or something being hit or slapped

Tiếng Việt	huỵch

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MLA

"thwack." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/thwack. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

thwack. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/thwack

Chicago

"thwack." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/thwack.

BibTeX

@misc{thwack_2026,
  title = {thwack},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/thwack},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}