- the act of hitting somebody/something hard; the sound made by this
- He gave the ball a good whack.
- I heard the whack of the bullet hitting the wood.
- (British English) a share of something; an amount of something
- Don't leave all the work to her. Everyone should do their fair whack.
- You have to pay the full whack. There are no reductions.
- He charges top whack (= the highest amount possible).
Word Originearly 18th cent.: imitative, or perhaps an alteration of thwack.
Idioms
See whack in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionaryout of whack (informal, especially North American English)
- no longer correct or working properly
- The system is clearly out of whack.
- All the traveling had thrown my body out of whack.
- The spending priorities were out of whack.
- not agreeing with or the same as something else
- Expectations and reality got out of whack.
Check pronunciation:
whack