See also: čonk

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Variant or figurative use of conch. Attested since the nineteenth century.[1]

Alternative forms

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Noun

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conk (plural conks)

 
Bracket fungus on a fallen tree trunk
  1. The shelf- or bracket-shaped fruiting body of a bracket fungus (also called a shelf fungus), i.e. a mushroom growing off a tree trunk.
  2. (slang) A nose, especially a large one.
  3. Alternative spelling of conch
Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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conk (third-person singular simple present conks, present participle conking, simple past and past participle conked)

  1. (slang) To hit, especially on the head.
    • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
      She came skipping to me just now, clapping her little hands and bleating about how very, very happy she was, dear Mrs Travers. The silly young geezer. I nearly conked her one with my trowel. I'd always thought her half-baked, but now I think they didn't even put her in the oven.
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Etymology 2

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From congolene, the brand name of a hair-straightening product.

 
Singer Nat King Cole in 1956 with his hair conked
 
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Noun

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conk (plural conks)

  1. (US, dated) A hairstyle involving the chemical straightening and styling of kinky hair.

Verb

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conk (third-person singular simple present conks, present participle conking, simple past and past participle conked)

  1. (US, dated) To chemically straighten tightly curled hair.
    • 1957, James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues”, in Going to Meet the Man[1], Dial, published 1965:
      The barbecue cook, wearing a dirty white apron, his conked hair reddish and metallic in the pale sun, and a cigarette between his lips, stood in the doorway, watching them.
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Etymology 3

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Unknown. Attested since the early twentieth century.

Verb

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conk (third-person singular simple present conks, present participle conking, simple past and past participle conked)

  1. (colloquial, often with out) To fail or show signs of failing, cease operating, break down.
    • 1921, Australian Aero Clubs, Sea, Land and Air, volume 3, page 310:
      Therefore, have two or more engines, so that there is still some power left if one engine conks.
    • 1983, Walli Leff, Marilyn Haft, Time without Work, page 93:
      I watch television when it's playing, but it done conked out. Everything is conked out.
  2. (colloquial, often with out) To become unconscious.
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References

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  1. ^ conk”, in OED Online  , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Anagrams

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