thwack

present singular third person thwacks · participle present thwacking · participle past thwacked · past thwacked · first person past singular thwacked · archaic present second person singular thwackest · past second person singular thwacked · archaic past second person singular thwackedst · present singular third person thwacks · archaic present singular third person thwacketh · past singular third person thwacked · past plural thwacked · past subjunctive thwacked · participle present thwacking · participle past thwacked

1. transitiveTo hit (someone or something) hard, especially with a flat implement or a stick; to thrash, to whack.

   Flaies lustily thwack, / least plough séede lack.

   1878, Thomas Tusser, “Octobers Abstract”, in Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. […], London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., […], →OCLC; republished as W[illiam] Payne, Sidney J[ohn Hervon] Herrtage, editors, Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. […], London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., […], 1878, →OCLC, stanza 3, page 43

   5 more examples

   This carter thwacketh his horse upon the croup, / And they began to drawen and to stoop.

   This carter thrashes his horse upon the croup, / And they began to draw and to stoop.

   [1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Friar’s Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales (in Middle English), [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; Charles Cowden Clarke, editor, The Canterbury Tales of Chaucer. […], 2nd edition, volume II, Edinburgh: James Nichol; London: James Nisbet & Co.; Dublin: W. Robertson, 1860, →OCLC, page 49, lines 7141–7142

   Run, run, come you hither / Novv, take all my Cuſhions dovvn and thvvack them ſoundly, / After my Feaſt of Millers: for their Buttocks / Have left a peck of flovver in them, beat them carefully […]

   Hengist, King of Kent

   c. 1615–1620 (date written), Tho[mas] Middleton, The Mayor of Quinborough: A Comedy. […] [Hengist, King of Kent], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], published 1661, →OCLC, Act V, scene i, page 61

   VVith that Nic bounc'd up vvith a Spring equal to that of one of your nimbleſt Tumblers or Rope dancers, falls foul upon John Bull to ſnatch the Cudgel he had in his Hand, that he might Thvvack Levvis vvith it.

   1712, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym; John Arbuthnot], “The Rest of Nic’s Fetches to Keep John out of Ecclesdoun-Castle”, in Lewis Baboon Turned Honest, and John Bull Politician. Being the Fourth Part of Law is a Bottomless-Pit. […], London: […] John Morphew, […], →OCLC, page 32

   I had finished my toilet, and was loitering with Frank Bracebridge in the library, when we heard a distant thwacking sound, which he informed me was a signal for the serving up of the dinner.

   1820 January 1, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Christmas Day”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number V, New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC, page 423

   Now, great logician! nothings enemy! / Who thwacketh nothing, and its numerous fry / Of little nothings, and the nothings grown; / The fog-lost nothings; and the nothings known.

   1856, Joseph Cartwright, Philpot Street: Or, The Infidels of Stepney. […], London: […] G. Rymer, […]; and published by C. Kerbey, […], →OCLC, page 9

   Synonyms: thack, bethwack, bang, baste, batter, beat, belabor, blow

2. alsofigurativelytransitiveTo 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.

   c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 277, column 2

3. transitiveTo pack (people or things) closely together; to cram.

   [W]ho vvould have thought a man could have thvvackt together ſo many incongruous ſimilitudes, had it not been to defend the motley i[n]coherence of a patch'd Miſſall?

   1641, [John Milton], Animadversions upon the Remonstrants Defence against Smectymnuus, London: […] [Richard Oulton and Gregory Dexter] for Thomas Vnderhill, […], →OCLC, page 24

   1 more example

   [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: […]

   1610, Jos[eph] Hall, “Section V. The Antiquity and Examples of Separation.”, in A Common Apologie of the Church of England: Against the Uniust Challenges of the Ouer-iust Sect, Commonly Called Brownists. […], London: […] [William Stansby] for Samuel Macham, […], →OCLC, page 14

4. figurativelytransitiveTo decisively defeat (someone) in a contest; to beat, to thrash.

   If we count three before the come of thee, thwacked thou art, and must go to the women.

   1869, R[ichard] D[oddridge] Blackmore, chapter II, in Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor. […], volume I, London: Sampson Low, Son, & Marston, […], →OCLC, page 18

   2 more examples

   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.

   c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v], page 23, column 1

   [W]hat adventurous knight ever thought of the lady's terror, when he went to thwack giant, dragon, or magician, in her presence, and for her deliverance?

   1821 January 8, [Walter Scott], chapter II, in Kenilworth; a Romance. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; and John Ballantyne, […]; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 40

5. obsoletetransitiveTo crowd or pack (a place or thing) with people, objects, etc.First known use 16th–17th c.

   And my lad Aſcanius with a Troian mantel adorning, / Weau'd woorks thwackt with honor, to her gifts this parlye ſhe lincketh.

   1582, Virgil, “The Third Booke of Virgil His Aeneis”, in Richard Stanyhurst, transl., The First Foure Bookes of Virgils Æneis, […], London: […] Henrie Bynneman […], published 1583, →OCLC; republished as The First Four Books of the Æneid of Virgil, […], Edinburgh: [Edinburgh Printing Company], 1836, →OCLC, page 80

6. intransitiveTo 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!

   1831 February, “Delta” [pseudonym; David Macbeth Moir], “The Winter Wild”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume XXIX, number CLXXVII, part II, Edinburgh: William Blackwood; London: T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, stanza VII, page 328

7. intransitiveobsoleteTo 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.

   1650, Alexander Giraffi [i.e., Alessandro Giraffi], “Saturday the 13. of Iuly, 1647. The Seventh Day.”, in James Howell, transl., An Exact Historie of the Late Revolutions in Naples; […], London: […] R. A. for R[ichard] Lowndes, →OCLC, pages 157–158

8. intransitiveobsoleterareOf 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.

   c. 1629–1632 (date written), Richard Brome, “The City Wit, or, The Woman Wears the Breeches. A Comedy.”, in A[lexander] Brome, editor, Five New Playes, […], London: […] Humphrey Moseley, Richard Marriot, and Thomas Dring, […], published 1653, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, signature [B8], verso

plural thwacks

1. 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.

   Noble Captain, Lend a reaſonable Thvvack, for the Love of God, vvith that Cane of yours, over theſe poor Shoulders.

   1704, [Jonathan Swift], “Section XI”, in A Tale of a Tub. […], London: […] John Nutt, […], →OCLC, page 205

   3 more examples

   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 Conquest would encline: […]

   1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]. Canto II.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, page 49

   [H]e trudged rapidly up the steep avenue of the Alhambra, singing as he went, and now and then bestowing a hearty thwack with a cudgel on the flanks of his donkey, either by way of cadence to the song, or refreshment to the animal; for dry blows serve in lieu for provender in Spain, for all beasts of burden.

   1832, [Washington Irving], “Legend of the Moor’s Legacy”, in The Alhambra: A Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards. […], volume II, Philadelphia, Pa.: [Henry Charles] Carey & [Isaac] Lea, →OCLC, page 14

   But he was stopped on the way by a portly sperm whale, that begged a few moments' confidential business with him. That business consisted in fetching the Commodore's craft such a thwack, that with all his pumps going he made straight for the nearest port to heave down and repair.

   1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Affidavit”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 230

   Synonyms: thack

2. A dull or heavy slapping sound.

   "It's a comfort they're most on'em females," he pursued, sounding a thwack on his knee as he settled himself agreeably in his seat.

   1859, George Meredith, “Crisis in the Apple-disease”, in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. A History of Father and Son. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, page 137

   1 more example

   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 effusion of blood.

   1837, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Mrs. Bullfrog”, in Mosses from an Old Manse. […], part I, New York, N.Y.: Wiley and Putnam, published 1846, →OCLC, page 122

   Synonyms: thwomp

1. Used to represent the dull or heavy sound of someone or something being hit or slapped.

   And then—Thwack! Anne had brought her slate down on Gilbert's head and cracked it—slate, not head—clear across.

   1908 June, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, “A Tempest in the School Teapot”, in Anne of Green Gables, Boston, Mass.: L[ouis] C[oues] Page & Company, published August 1909, →OCLC, page 156

   1 more example

   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 thwack ſturdilye thundring.

   1582, Virgil, “[Here after Ensue Certayne Poetical Conceites. […].] The Description of Liparen, […].”, in Richard Stanyhurst, transl., The First Foure Bookes of Virgils Æneis, […], London: […] Henrie Bynneman […], published 1583, →OCLC; republished as The First Four Books of the Æneid of Virgil, […], Edinburgh: [Edinburgh Printing Company], 1836, →OCLC, page 142