conk1
/kɒŋk
/verb [no object] (conk out) informal
1(Of a machine) break down: my car conked out...
- Of course, this has nothing to do with the absolute lack of any proper ticket inspection on the network, nor the abysmal and ancient ticket machines still conking out all over the shop.
- To add to his woes, his Switch card machine had conked out, forcing harried cashiers to put transactions through manually.
- He started door-to-door canvass on April 28 and as happened him on previous occasions, his car conked out just then.
1.1(Of a person) faint or go to sleep: he conked out on the rear seat...
- On the right, Inkblot, the master of sleep himself, is conked out on his favorite afghan, his preferred sleeping spot of the moment.
- Give him a bunch of cold medicine so he conks out so you both can sleep, sleep, sleep.
- He was gonna sleep in the den but you guys had already conked out and Ryan was doing a pretty good job of taking up the whole floor, so I told him he could have the room upstairs.
1.2Die: most creatures conk out smartly once they have passed on their genes
Origin
First World War: of unknown origin.
Rhymes
conk2
/kɒŋk/informal
verb [with object]
Hit (someone) on the head: the clown conked him...
- How about I just conk you over the head and knock you out?
- I can tell you how she conked her daughter on the head when she started crying on the street.
- The marooned sailor rises, grasps a palm tree, shakes it and loosens a coconut, which conks him directly on the wound.
noun
1British A person’s nose: look at the size of that conk!...
- There was a certain camaraderie, a nodding acquaintance with the other regulars, such as Big Nose's mob, several of whom had ordinary sized conks.
- The only use he serves as a coach is that his nose just about crosses the touchline when he's sat in the dugout, so there's every chance he'll be able to trip up a tricky winger with his conk.
- He has a huge conk and looks greasy to me.
2 dated A person’s head: a persistent idea has been buzzing about in my conk
2.1A blow to the head.It doesn't take a fall or a conk on the head to cause death up there....
- Mayoral shortcomings may warrant a conk with a dry cup, but not necessarily a drenching with hot tea.
Origin
Early 19th century: perhaps an alteration of conch.
conk3
/käNGk
/ /kôNGk /noun
A hairstyle in which curly or kinky hair is straightened.Malcolm Little, years before he was Malcolm X, wore his hair chemically slicked in what was called a conk and styled zoot suits when he was young....
- They went to the barber every Saturday for a conk or a shave, and at night the ones with long hair kept their waves pressed firm in caps made of nylon stockings.
- There were but a very few musicians who didn't wear a conk in those days.
verb [with object]
Straighten curly or kinky hair.He maintains that ‘Many blacks in Paris bleached their skin, straightened and conked their hair, and tried to dress and speak like whites, in order to assimilate better.’...
- He surely had him in mind in describing the three cool-walking black boys with conked hair in his 1952 novel.
- I conked his hair and didn't take the paste out.
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