conk

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to hit on the head, or (of a machine) to break down suddenly

   The old engine conked out halfway up the mountain pass.

Of uncertain origin; possibly an alteration of 'conch' or imitative of a blow. The 'break down' sense (often 'conk out') is early 20th-century slang, perhaps echoic of an engine sputtering to a halt.

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