zonkhttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zonk_v%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_usezonk, v.
First published 1986; not fully revised

zonkverb

slang.
  1. 1.
    1950–
    transitive. To hit, strike, or knock. Also figurative.
    1. 1950
      If the Third Earl found that his wife had nipped off with another man while he was away at the Crusades, he'd have zonked her over the head with his kitbag.
      A. Melville, Castle in Air i, in Plays of Year vol. III. 338
    2. 1959
      We found ourselves back in my flat..zonking down the drink.
      P. Bull, I know Face xi. 201
    3. 1960
      She zonked me again on the head with this hairbrush.
      I. Cross, Backward Sex 188
    4. 1975
      William Green tried to assure them that care had been taken to put provisions in the bill to see to it that New England ‘doesn't get zonked’.
      New Yorker 21 July 67/1
    5. 1979
      I felt zonked by this idea. It had never occurred to me.
      G. Watson, Black Jack xxii. 178
    6. 1982
      ICI has invented a new adaptation to ethylene crackers that will zonk the competition and make feedstock costs less critical.
      Observer 14 November 15
  2. 2.
    1968–
    intransitive. To fail; to lose consciousness, to die.
    1. 1968
      If Johnny zonked, it would be bad for my book.
      Listener 14 March 352/3
    2. 1977
      In a burst of determination, she'd been sitting in the bathtub doing her breathing for five hours straight—in one nostril, out the other—until she zonked and went rigid.
      New York Times Magazine 4 December 142
  3. 3.
    Const. out.
    1. 3.a.
      1970–
      intransitive. To fall heavily asleep.
      1. 1970
        He left me at seven a.m. and I zonked out until after mid-day.
        J. Sangster, Touchfeather, Too iii. 75
      2. 1984
        If mothers zonk out at three in the afternoon every day, they may continue that pattern after it's no longer necessary.
        New York News Magazine 18 March 18/2
    2. 3.b.
      1973–
      transitive. To overcome or knock out (in figurative senses).
      1. 1973
        I sank into my bed.., zonked myself out with sleeping pills, and woke up Friday.
        Australian Women's Weekly 26 December 32/5
      2. 1980
        It's J. R.'s power that zonks women out.
        Telegraph (Brisbane) 21 March 6/3
      3. 1985
        No Junoesque oarswomen though... ‘I think I row because it zonks me out, then I don't row with anyone.’
        Sunday Times 24 February 36/6

zonk, v. was first published in 1986; not fully revised.

zonk, v. was last modified in June 2024.