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
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 The Reds were first togged out by New Balance for the 2015/16 season, following the American sportswear company's takeover of Warrior Sports (remember them?) and have produced Liverpool's clobber for the last five seasons. SI.com, 29 Sep. 2019 Because this amount was not indexed to inflation, the AMT clobbers more people each year. Kathleen Pender, San Francisco Chronicle, 9 Dec. 2017
Verb
To have seen the life, quite literally, clobbered out of him was highly distressing, to say the least, and those who witnessed the sudden collapse — even if from the comfort of their own recliners — were, understandably, shaken. Adina Wise, STAT, 9 Feb. 2024 College football is clobbering housing markets across the United States, as wealthy fans and investors seek short-term rentals for games. Alyson Krueger, New York Times, 9 Feb. 2024 Live weather updates:Life-threatening flood threat as heavy rain and powerful winds clobber California California power outage map As of 6:42 a.m. ET, over 430,000 customers were without power across the state, according to a USA TODAY power outage tracker. Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY, 5 Feb. 2024 Healthier, the Chiefs will stand a better chance of fully challenging a Ravens club that won its playoff opener by 24 points and has clobbered several playoff teams in the past few months. Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Jan. 2024 After clobbering Colorado 97-50 on Thursday at McKale Center, Arizona led by just three points at halftime but eventually took off with the help of 12-0 and 9-0 runs in the second half. Bruce Pascoe, The Arizona Republic, 6 Jan. 2024 When state agencies sent thousands of workers home, the retail businesses and restaurants that depended on their patronage were clobbered. Dan Walters, The Mercury News, 1 Feb. 2024 The storm that had clobbered the East Coast then raced across the Atlantic and slammed into England with the same powerful punch. Frederick N. Rasmussen, Baltimore Sun, 23 Jan. 2024 The apartment rental market finally stopped clobbering tenants with big price increases in 2023. Will Parker, WSJ, 2 Jan. 2024

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 19 Mar. 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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