conk
conk Lexical Profile
conk Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To break down, fail, or stop functioning (usually followed by 'out', of a machine or engine); or to faint or fall fast asleep from exhaustion.
"The old lawnmower finally conked out halfway through cutting the backyard grass."
To hit or strike sharply, especially on the head (informal).
"A stray baseball conked the spectator right on the helmet."
American To straighten tightly curled hair using a chemical relaxer.
"In the 1940s, barbershops frequently conked men's hair for a smooth, styled appearance."
• noun
British A person's nose, especially a large or prominent one, or the head (in informal usage).
"The boxer took a sharp jab right on the conk during the second round."
A sharp blow or knock, especially on the head.
"He got a nasty conk on the head from a falling tree branch."
American A hairstyle popular among African American men from the 1920s to the 1960s, in which tightly curled hair was chemically straightened using a lye-based relaxer.
"Many mid-century rhythm and blues musicians wore a sleek, glossy conk on stage."
The woody, shelf-like fruiting body of a bracket fungus growing on a tree trunk or log.
"The forester noticed a large fungal conk protruding from the decaying bark of the old oak."
• Rhymes for conk
Word Origin & Etymology
First recorded in the early 19th century as British slang for the nose, likely from a figurative use of 'conch' (referring to the curved shell). The verbal senses of striking the head or failing mechanically developed later, partly through imitative sound symbolism.