conk (out) v.
1. usu. of machinery, to collapse, to break down, to malfunction; thus conked (out) adj.
Hull Dly Mail 17 July 5/3: A motor-cyclist arrived [...] and said, ‘The cavalry have conked out on the hill, sir’. | ||
Liverpool Echo 29 May 6/5: The weestmoreland Mortor-cycle Club held a series of trials [...] with very stiff gradients [...] B. Jeffreys, on an Indian, ‘conked out’ at the bend, his engine failing. | ||
‘Every Little While’ in Airman’s Song Book (1945) 55: Every little while my engine’s conking, / Every little while I catch on fire. | ||
War Birds (1926) 88: The motor conked all right, but he made a nice landing in the field. | ||
Exeter & Plymouth Gaz. 25 July 6/5: Miss Phillips [...] the only lady rider taking part [...] conked out while negotiating the climb. | ||
Autobiog. of a Thief 161: Near Croydon she [i.e. a car] ‘conked out.’. | ||
(con. 1917) Canvas Falcons (1970) 273: The engine conked. | ‘A Flier’s War’ in Longstreet||
Right Ho, Jeeves 6: The mystery had conked. I saw all. | ||
May the Twelfth: Mass-Observation Day-Surveys 2:96: Piccadilly. Crowd dense in many parts. ‘Can’t get out of ’ere.’ ‘You will.’ ‘Someone’s conked out.’. | ||
They Die with Their Boots Clean 119: Greengage went on with one bloke. Bloke’s feet conked out. | ||
Amer. Thes. Sl. | ||
Enemy Coast Ahead (1955) 125: The darned thing conked out with about six miles to go on the way home. | ||
Jennings Goes To School 111: The speedometer needle dropped back to eight miles per hour. ‘She won’t take it,’ said Lofty. ‘She’s conking.’. | ||
Hoodlums (2021) 87: Kirk eased the rented Ford through the traffic [...] Kirk wondered. What happens to me when I conk out. | ||
Long and the Short and the Tall Act I: I think the battery’s giving up. Conking out. | ||
Mad mag. Oct. 10: Old Cooney conked at first and Burrows also sacked. | ||
Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1969) 40: Kesey [...] jams it [i.e. a potato] over the guy’s exhaust pipe, which causes the motor to conk out. | ||
Wilby Conspiracy (1991) 63: ‘Car lighter conked out,’ he said. | ||
Last Bus to Woodstock 165: Has the car konked out again? | ||
Deadmeat 264: The Karmann Ghia conked-out, right in the middle of the road. | ||
Raiders 10: He would [...] have the bonnet up as though it [i.e. a van] had just conked out. | ||
Pulp Ink [ebook] I’ll stay here a bit longer. See if the jukebox conks out, like. | ‘Lady and the Gimp’ in
2. (also conk off) to lose consciousness.
Debits and Credits (1926) 167: The man was vi’lently sick an’ conked out. | ‘The Janeites’||
Amer. Madam (1981) 320: I had conked out. | ||
Roaring Nineties 186: Teddy was tied-up so tightly he would’ve konked out, if a chap [...] hadn’t made ’em loosen the ropes. | ||
Entrapment (2009) 99: Wait till he feels [...] his leg gettin’ bound to the voltage clamp. He’ll konk out. | Little Lester’ in||
(con. 1943–5) To Hell and Back (1950) 198: I’m sorry I conked out . | ||
Candy (1970) 153: You may recall I conked on it, only to come up an hour later with an ass full of needles. | ||
Mad mag. Jan. 47: And my chick on her ‘Castro,’ and me on the floor, / Had just conked out for a forty-wink snore. | ||
He who Shoots Last 145: Ya looks like ya gonna conk out. Ya better see da quack. | ||
S.R.O. (1998) 429: I put the Ole Gal away and soon conked off to sleep. | ||
Scully 35: ‘I’m not dead, Mrs Scully,’ he said, ‘I’ve only fainted,’ and then he conked out again. | ||
Flame: a Life on the Game 145: I heard a siren in the distance and I conked out again. I woke up a week later in hospital. | ||
PS, I Scored the Bridesmaids 195: I’m a bit more hammered than I thought and I end up conking out. | ||
On the Bro’d 37: I conked out on a bench [...] straight up passed out. |
3. to give up.
Otterbury Incident 63: The cheap-jack fellow’s voice conked out altogether, so startled was he by this intrusion. | ||
They’re a Weird Mob (1958) 39: I reckon you’ll conk out about lunchtime. | ||
in Sweet Daddy 113: I took one look and conked out. | ||
Go-Boy! 210: Don’t conk out on me now, hotshot! | ||
Guardian G2 21 July 9: The pianist, who has not been supplied with a page-turner, conks out in utter frustration. |
4. to die; thus conked, dead.
Hell Hounds of France 13: [Y]ou’ve had enough wine to last any ordinary man a lifetime.’ ‘Yeah?’ ‘Yes. Even if you konk out tonight’. | ||
Aberdeen Jrnl 9 Nov. 5/6: A man [...] caught him round the neck and hit him on the head with something hard [...] on the way to the police station the accused asked if it was likely that Leslie would ‘conk out’. | ||
Sad Cypress (1954) 44: So she’s conked out – eh? | ||
‘Killer’ in Best of Manhunt (2019) [ebook] ‘The guy’s condition was listed as fair up until one p.m. today. Then he suddenly conked out’. | ||
Shiralee 49: He’s dead [...] Conked out just as I got in the door. | ||
Beds in the East (1972) 605: ‘He said he’d been told that it was up-river that he’d conk out sometime or other, and I got the idea that he wasn’t all that keen on carrying on, he wouldn’t mind snuffing it all that much.’. | ||
In Cold Blood 154: Because I caught pneumonia I almost conked. | ||
Riot (1967) 20: If Malaski konks out we’re facin’ a murder rap. | ||
Decadence and Other Plays (1985) 50: Would I not conk out in the street at Aldgate East (untimely end). | East in||
Alice in La-La Land (1999) 194: I hope I ain’t going to conk out from a heart attack. | ||
Soft Detective 3: Just some poor geezer conking out. |
5. to fall asleep.
Sat. Night and Sun. Morning 90: How many times have you seen me conk out from too much booze? | ||
Mad mag. June 49: Like soon I got stinking that I conked out on the floor. | ||
Six-Eleven (1966) 187: Do you mind if I conk out on your shoulder? I’m really bushed. | ||
After Hours 130: It was dawn and I wanted to conk out. | ||
Only Fools and Horses [TV script] I conked out on one of them beds. | ‘Strained Relations’||
Streets Above Us (1991) 130: Annabelle, head drooped forward on to her chest, has conked out at last. | ||
Indep. Mag. 11 Mar. 36: They both conk out for at least 10 hours at night. |
6. to knock someone out.
Bound for Glory (1969) 364: You don’t hafta swing that pump aroun’s so much [...] You don’t want to konk none of yer own soldiers out, do you? | ||
(con. 1948) Flee the Angry Strangers 262: You want to conk me out and diddle with me while I’m helpless, you big degenerate? | ||
Mad mag. May–June 20: If they spot you, Buster, they’ll conk you out. |
7. (US) vtr. to cause to malfunction.
Dirty Words [ebook] ‘‘I'm even willing to bet it'll conk out that panic alarm’’. | ‘Legendary [...] Ralphie O’Malley’ in