Also: Conk off
Meaning of Idiom ‘Conk Out’ (phrasal verb)
1. To conk out means to suddenly stop functioning or to fail, as a mechanical or electronic device.
2. To fall asleep. 1Heacock, Paul. Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms]. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2010.,2Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
3. Faint or collapse suddenly.
4. To die. 3Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013..
Usage
The word conk is sometimes used alone to refer to failing, dying, etc. but it is usually used with out or off.
Example: “I caught pneumonia. I almost conked.” (Truman Capote)
Examples Of Use
“My TV conked out in the last quarter of the game last night. Who won?”
“Well, my car finally conked out today. It was only a matter of time.”
“My uncle always conks out on the sofa watching the television.”
“I conked out in front of my computer studying for the exam.”
“I didn’t realize how dehydrated I was but I conked out on the way back to the truck. It was a scorching day!”
“It’s scary to hear about young men conking out from a stroke. I thought it only happened to older folks.”
Origin
This idiom has been used in one sense or another sense the early 1900s. How the word conk came to be used in this way is unknown.
More Idioms Starting with C
More Off Idioms
More Out Idioms
Sources
| 1. | ↲ | Heacock, Paul. Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms]. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2010. |
| 2, 3. | ↲ | Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013. |