Monday, October 20, 2014

Word of the Day

conk
 \ kongk, kawngk \, verb;  
1.to go to sleep (usually followed by off  or out ).
2.to break or fail, as a machine or engine (often followed by out ): The engine conked out halfway there .
3.to slow down or stop; lose energy (often followed by out ).
4.to lose consciousness; faint (usually followed by out ).
5.to die (usually followed by out ).

Quotes:
The poor thing was so exhausted she probably conked  out the minute she hit the bed.
-- Bonnie K. Winn, "Family Found," 2014

In fact, things got so exciting that Archie collapsed his camp bed and had to be retrieved in a highly agitated state, but they both finally conked  out at around one...
-- Gil McNeil, "The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club ," 2009

Origin:
Conk  is of unknown origin, but it may be imitative.

Dictionary.com