English

Alternative forms

• konk

Noun

conk ‎(plural conks)

Bracket fungus on a fallen tree trunk

1. The shelf- or bracket-shaped fruiting body of a bracket fungus (also called a shelf fungus), i.e. a mushroom growing off a tree trunk.
2. (slang) A nose, especially a large one.
3. Alternative spelling of conch

Translations

Verb

conk ‎(third-person singular simple present conks, present participle conking, simple past and past participle conked)

1. (slang) To hit, especially on the head.
   • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “chapter XVII”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, OCLC 1227855:

     She came skipping to me just now, clapping her little hands and bleating about how very, very happy she was, dear Mrs Travers. The silly young geezer. I nearly conked her one with my trowel. I'd always thought her half-baked, but now I think they didn't even put her in the oven.

Related terms

• conk out

Translations

Etymology 2

From congolene, the brand name of a hair-straightening product.

Singer Nat King Cole in 1956 with his hair conked

Noun

conk ‎(plural conks)

1. (US, dated) A hairstyle involving the chemical straightening and styling of kinky hair.

Verb

conk ‎(third-person singular simple present conks, present participle conking, simple past and past participle conked)

1. (US, dated) To chemically straighten tightly curled hair.
   • 1957, James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues,” in Going to Meet the Man, Dial, 1965,

     The barbecue cook, wearing a dirty white apron, his conked hair reddish and metallic in the pale sun, and a cigarette between his lips, stood in the doorway, watching them.

Translations

Anagrams

• nock