Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to kill, to destroy.

1918		Gippsland Farmers’ Jrnl (Traralgon, Vic.) 23 July 3/2: He had recently read another letter from a Gippsland lad, who said: ‘If ever you hear a returned soldier running down the French / Just 'Stonker' Him’.
1921		(con. WWI) E. Lynch Somme Mud 7: I’ll stonker the first cove who tries to make a break.
1921		(con. WWI) E. Lynch Somme Mud 49: I’ll wager half a dozen of them were laying odds about which of us would get stonkered first.
1932		(con. WWI) L. Mann Flesh in Armour 274: ‘Anyone’d think from that [i.e. an exhortatory address] that no one was going to be stonkered’.
1941		A. Gurney Bluey & Curley 20 Mar. [synd. cartoon strip] Did you stonker that big Italian that jumped into the water?
1959		G. Slatter Gun in My Hand 201: Then he went and stepped on a bloody mine. Stonkered the poor bastard properly.

2. to render useless, to put out of action, to thwart.

1938		Morn. Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld) 12 Sept. 6/3: [headline] Told Magistrate Drink ‘Stonkered’ Him.
1947		E. Baume Pont Galler 180: That fixes even the tough boys. That’ll stonker him.
1974		B. Buckley Festival 34: He slapped Eugene on the shoulder with a slap that almost stonkered him.
1999		G. Seal Lingo 45: The many other terms for fighting give an idea of the importance of this activity in larrikin life. bump, comb down, dish, dong, tob, spike, sort out, stonker, rip into, do, go the knuckle on, weigh into, wipe and quilt.

3. to hit.

1922		Healesville & Yarra Glen Guardian (Vic.) 4/5: The handle hit him fair on the napper. and he dropped just like as if ’e’d been pole-axed [...] Blime, it seems I stonkered him a bit too ’ard.
1952		West Australian (Perth) 23 Aug. 20/2: Terms which are still popular — [...] stonker, king hit, stoush.

4. to defeat, to outwit.

1941		Baker Popular Dict. Aus. Sl. 72: Stonker, to defeat, outwit, put out of action.
1978		T. Davies More Aus. Nicknames 95: Stonk A teacher guaranteed to stonker any student with ideas above his ability.
1997		K. Lette Mad Cows 62: This stonkered them. To women who’ve been handed the stiff cheese from fate’s fromage trolley, these were the most terrifying words in their limited lexicon.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl.

5. to confuse.

1942		Argus (Melbourne) 7 Nov. 65/3: That sartorial conflict stonkered the enture party until he announced that it represented ‘How Green Was My Valet’ [sic].
1946		Courier Mail (Brisbane) 18 Sept. 25/2: ‘Stonkered’ [...] I am 19, in love with a man of 30 [...] Do you think I should leave home to marry him, or break my heart by parting?
1949		Argus (Melbourne) 1 Oct. 11/3: All of which, to quote again from Professor Pei’s list, is quite stonkering.