clobber
clobber Lexical Profile
clobber Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To strike or hit someone or something hard and repeatedly (informal).
"The sudden hailstorm clobbered the newly planted garden and flattened the tomato vines."
To defeat decisively in a game, contest, or financial market, or to affect severely (informal).
"The visiting team clobbered the defending champions by thirty points in the season opener."
To overwrite, erase, or corrupt existing data in memory, a file, or a processor register, often unintentionally (computing).
"Running the script without a backup flag will clobber your existing configuration file."
• noun
British Clothing, personal belongings, or equipment (informal).
"He packed all his hiking clobber into the back of the van before setting off for the mountains."
• Rhymes for clobber
Word Origin & Etymology
The British noun sense meaning clothing or belongings dates to the late 19th century, possibly related to an earlier shoemaker's term for black paste used to conceal cracks in leather. The verb sense meaning to strike or defeat emerged in American military slang during the 1940s, likely as an expressive blend of 'club' and 'clabber'.