clobber

1 of 2

noun

clob·​ber ˈklä-bər How to pronounce clobber (audio)
British slang

clobber

2 of 2

verb

clobbered; clobbering ˈklä-b(ə-)riŋ How to pronounce clobber (audio)

transitive verb

1
: to pound mercilessly
also : to hit with force
clobber a home run
2
a
: to defeat overwhelmingly
b
: to have a strongly negative impact on
businesses clobbered by the recession
c
: to criticize harshly

Examples of clobber in a Sentence

Noun Just dump your clobber anywhere. still wearing the same clobber he wore as an undergrad at Cambridge Verb If you say anything I'll clobber you. We clobbered them in our last game. Businesses are being clobbered by the bad economy.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Juno Temple’s character Dot nearly clobbers Gator with a nail bat — an object often associated with your Stranger Things character Steve Harrington — during their Halloween brawl in episode 4. EW.com, 7 June 2024 Neat, said engineers at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Irvine, who’ve invented a clever kind of material based on the mantis shrimp’s clobber-sticks. Matt Simon, Wired, 22 Feb. 2021
Verb
That too in an operating climate which until very recently saw EPCM companies clobbered by high inflation and interest rates whilst facing the constant age-old clamor for on time and on budget energy project delivery. Gaurav Sharma, Forbes, 7 Oct. 2024 Ohtani clobbered the pitch over the right field wall. Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for clobber 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'clobber.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

origin unknown

Verb

origin unknown

First Known Use

Noun

1879, in the meaning defined above

Verb

circa 1942, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of clobber was in 1879

Dictionary Entries Near clobber

Cite this Entry

“Clobber.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clobber. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

clobber

verb
clob·​ber
ˈkläb-ər
1
: to hit with force
2
: to defeat by a wide margin

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