whacks

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of whack.

   A series of whacks from the carpenter's mallet drove the post into the soil.

   The drummer's opening whacks set a furious pace for the song.

   Note

   Most often these are blows counted one by one, or the sounds they make: the whacks of a mallet, a drum, a bat. The same plural also serves the looser meanings, such as chances or turns in US slang and, in dated use, shares of something divided. The spelling is identical to the present-tense verb, so look at the neighbors: an article or a following "of" marks the noun, while a subject before and an object after mark the verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of whack.

   The batter whacks every loose pitch into the outfield gap.

   Each morning the old man whacks the rug against the porch rail to clear the dust.

   Note

   Here the -s marks the present tense after he, she or it, and it applies to every meaning of the verb, not just striking. In slang, a gangster who whacks a witness kills him. In British usage, someone who whacks a rival surpasses them. With up, it means parceling something out (he whacks up the takings). In Singapore English, someone who whacks a task dives in without a plan.

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