bonk

«bonk» in Mova's school dictionary: To hit someone or something lightly, often on the head — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

verb (bonk, bonks, bonked, bonking); noun (a bonk, bonks)

meaning for a pupil

1) (informal) To hit someone or something lightly, often on the head. tree →

2) (informal) A light hit or the sound it makes. tree →

3) (rude slang) To have sex with someone; adults use it as a crude joke word. tree →

4) (informal, sport) To «bonk» or «hit the wall»: to suddenly run out of energy in a long race. tree →

sense in the lessons

In children's books and cartoons, «bonk» is a funny sound word for a light knock on the head. Among adults it can be a rude slang word, so be careful. In sport, cyclists and runners say they «bonked» when they ran out of energy.

examples

• The ball bonked him on the head. tree →
• Bonk! The toy fell off the shelf. tree →
• She bonked her head on the low door. tree →
• The cyclist bonked halfway up the hill. tree →
• Don't bonk your brother with the pillow. tree →
• I heard a loud bonk from the kitchen. tree →

note

The rude sense (3) is mainly UK/Australian slang; avoid it in school. The cartoon sense is fine. Similar: bump, knock, bop.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «bonk» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.