See tonk in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for tonk meaning in English (9.0kB)
{
"etymology_number": 1,
"etymology_text": "Origins are unknown, but definitely predate the use of metal flashlights, contrary to the most quoted description of origin.\nIt is probable that the origin relates to Chinese immigration, as the first law to restrict immigration from a particular country was enacted in 1882 to limit the numbers of Chinese coming to the United States. It is said that many of the illegal immigrants made their way to the US via the Gulf of Tonkin area of what is now Vietnam. It is also possible that the term is related to the Chinese \"tong\" mob.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "tonks",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "tonk (plural tonks)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "American English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "1990: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary, Confirmation Hearings on Federal Appointments: Hearings Before the Committee - An agent, Larry Moy, when asked to define the derivation of the term “tonk,” replied: “...it's the sound of flashlight hitting somebody's head, tonk\". [This \"derivation\" is incorrect - see Etymology]"
},
{
"text": "1998: Cirenio Rodriguez & Enrique T Trueba, Leadership, education and political action, in Ethnic Identity and Power: Cultural Contexts of Political Action in School and Society - \"Catch as many tonks as you guys can. Safely. An alien is not worth busting a leg.\""
},
{
"text": "2005: EMF (poster on The QandO Blog in response to Illegal immigration made easy, read at https://web.archive.org/web/20060528001651/http://www.qando.net/details.aspx?Entry=789 on 27 May 2006) - The pissed off Arizona land owner who snipes the tonks with a high powered rifle."
}
],
"glosses": [
"An illegal immigrant of any country."
],
"id": "en-tonk-en-noun-ApKy2uxX",
"links": [
[
"derogatory",
"derogatory"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(slang, derogatory, chiefly US) An illegal immigrant of any country."
],
"tags": [
"US",
"derogatory",
"slang"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"rhymes": "-ɒŋk"
},
{
"audio": "En-au-tonk.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg/En-au-tonk.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "tonk"
}
{
"categories": [],
"etymology_number": 2,
"forms": [
{
"form": "tonks",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "tonk (plural tonks)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"text": "How much tonk have we got to shift?"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An item of value, or of perceived value, especially for sale."
],
"id": "en-tonk-en-noun-V3lP1H5C",
"raw_glosses": [
"(slang) An item of value, or of perceived value, especially for sale."
],
"tags": [
"slang"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"rhymes": "-ɒŋk"
},
{
"audio": "En-au-tonk.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg/En-au-tonk.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "tonk"
}
{
"categories": [],
"etymology_number": 3,
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-"
},
"expansion": "tonk (uncountable)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1992, Toni Morrison, Jazz, Vintage (2016), page 13",
"text": "It has big deep-down chairs and a card table by the window covered with jade, dracena and doctor plants until they want to have card games or play tonk between themselves.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A matching card game, combining features of knock rummy and conquian."
],
"id": "en-tonk-en-noun-QNqNRwWU",
"links": [
[
"match",
"match"
],
[
"card game",
"card game"
],
[
"knock rummy",
"knock rummy"
],
[
"conquian",
"conquian"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "tunk"
}
],
"tags": [
"uncountable"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"rhymes": "-ɒŋk"
},
{
"audio": "En-au-tonk.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg/En-au-tonk.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "tonk"
}
{
"categories": [],
"etymology_number": 4,
"etymology_text": "Onomatopoeic.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "tonk",
"name": "en-interj"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "intj",
"senses": [
{
"glosses": [
"representation of a sound produced by knocking on something hollow"
],
"id": "en-tonk-en-intj-X7LYJuAn"
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"rhymes": "-ɒŋk"
},
{
"audio": "En-au-tonk.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg/En-au-tonk.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "tonk"
}
{
"categories": [],
"etymology_number": 4,
"etymology_text": "Onomatopoeic.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "tonks",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "tonk (plural tonks)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"glosses": [
"A sound produced by knocking on something hollow."
],
"id": "en-tonk-en-noun-undqP9Ih"
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Cricket",
"orig": "en:Cricket",
"parents": [
"Ball games",
"Sports",
"Human activity",
"Human behaviour",
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A resounding strike of the ball; a powerful hit of the ball with the bat."
],
"id": "en-tonk-en-noun-KSW85kkH",
"links": [
[
"cricket",
"cricket"
],
[
"strike",
"strike"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(cricket, colloquial) A resounding strike of the ball; a powerful hit of the ball with the bat."
],
"tags": [
"colloquial"
],
"topics": [
"ball-games",
"cricket",
"games",
"hobbies",
"lifestyle",
"sports"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"rhymes": "-ɒŋk"
},
{
"audio": "En-au-tonk.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg/En-au-tonk.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "tonk"
}
{
"categories": [],
"etymology_number": 4,
"etymology_text": "Onomatopoeic.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "tonks",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "tonking",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "tonked",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "tonked",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "tonk (third-person singular simple present tonks, present participle tonking, simple past and past participle tonked)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Cricket",
"orig": "en:Cricket",
"parents": [
"Ball games",
"Sports",
"Human activity",
"Human behaviour",
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2012, Iain Macintosh, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Cricket But Were Too Afraid to Ask",
"text": "Then your dad would step up and spend 45 minutes repeatedly tonking the ball over the shower block […]",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2014, Makarand Waingankar, Guts & Glory",
"text": "Moments later, Sehwag tonked the ball and it travelled some distance.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To knock or strike (a ball) so that it flies through the air."
],
"id": "en-tonk-en-verb-1VtWFmS3",
"links": [
[
"cricket",
"cricket"
],
[
"knock",
"knock"
],
[
"strike",
"strike"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(cricket, colloquial, transitive) To knock or strike (a ball) so that it flies through the air."
],
"tags": [
"colloquial",
"transitive"
],
"topics": [
"ball-games",
"cricket",
"games",
"hobbies",
"lifestyle",
"sports"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"rhymes": "-ɒŋk"
},
{
"audio": "En-au-tonk.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg/En-au-tonk.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "tonk"
}
{
"categories": [],
"etymology_number": 5,
"forms": [
{
"form": "tonks",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "tonk (plural tonks)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"glosses": [
"A tank."
],
"id": "en-tonk-en-noun-toy7olDg",
"raw_glosses": [
"(slang) A tank."
],
"related": [
{
"word": "honky-tonk"
},
{
"word": "tinkety-tonk"
}
],
"tags": [
"slang"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"rhymes": "-ɒŋk"
},
{
"audio": "En-au-tonk.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg/En-au-tonk.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "tonk"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms with audio links",
"Rhymes:English/ɒŋk",
"Rhymes:English/ɒŋk/1 syllable"
],
"etymology_number": 1,
"etymology_text": "Origins are unknown, but definitely predate the use of metal flashlights, contrary to the most quoted description of origin.\nIt is probable that the origin relates to Chinese immigration, as the first law to restrict immigration from a particular country was enacted in 1882 to limit the numbers of Chinese coming to the United States. It is said that many of the illegal immigrants made their way to the US via the Gulf of Tonkin area of what is now Vietnam. It is also possible that the term is related to the Chinese \"tong\" mob.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "tonks",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "tonk (plural tonks)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"American English",
"English derogatory terms",
"English slang"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "1990: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary, Confirmation Hearings on Federal Appointments: Hearings Before the Committee - An agent, Larry Moy, when asked to define the derivation of the term “tonk,” replied: “...it's the sound of flashlight hitting somebody's head, tonk\". [This \"derivation\" is incorrect - see Etymology]"
},
{
"text": "1998: Cirenio Rodriguez & Enrique T Trueba, Leadership, education and political action, in Ethnic Identity and Power: Cultural Contexts of Political Action in School and Society - \"Catch as many tonks as you guys can. Safely. An alien is not worth busting a leg.\""
},
{
"text": "2005: EMF (poster on The QandO Blog in response to Illegal immigration made easy, read at https://web.archive.org/web/20060528001651/http://www.qando.net/details.aspx?Entry=789 on 27 May 2006) - The pissed off Arizona land owner who snipes the tonks with a high powered rifle."
}
],
"glosses": [
"An illegal immigrant of any country."
],
"links": [
[
"derogatory",
"derogatory"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(slang, derogatory, chiefly US) An illegal immigrant of any country."
],
"tags": [
"US",
"derogatory",
"slang"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"rhymes": "-ɒŋk"
},
{
"audio": "En-au-tonk.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg/En-au-tonk.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "tonk"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms with audio links",
"Rhymes:English/ɒŋk",
"Rhymes:English/ɒŋk/1 syllable"
],
"etymology_number": 2,
"forms": [
{
"form": "tonks",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "tonk (plural tonks)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English slang"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "How much tonk have we got to shift?"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An item of value, or of perceived value, especially for sale."
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(slang) An item of value, or of perceived value, especially for sale."
],
"tags": [
"slang"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"rhymes": "-ɒŋk"
},
{
"audio": "En-au-tonk.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg/En-au-tonk.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "tonk"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms with audio links",
"English uncountable nouns",
"Rhymes:English/ɒŋk",
"Rhymes:English/ɒŋk/1 syllable"
],
"etymology_number": 3,
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-"
},
"expansion": "tonk (uncountable)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1992, Toni Morrison, Jazz, Vintage (2016), page 13",
"text": "It has big deep-down chairs and a card table by the window covered with jade, dracena and doctor plants until they want to have card games or play tonk between themselves.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A matching card game, combining features of knock rummy and conquian."
],
"links": [
[
"match",
"match"
],
[
"card game",
"card game"
],
[
"knock rummy",
"knock rummy"
],
[
"conquian",
"conquian"
]
],
"tags": [
"uncountable"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"rhymes": "-ɒŋk"
},
{
"audio": "En-au-tonk.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg/En-au-tonk.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "tunk"
}
],
"word": "tonk"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English interjections",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms with audio links",
"English verbs",
"Rhymes:English/ɒŋk",
"Rhymes:English/ɒŋk/1 syllable"
],
"etymology_number": 4,
"etymology_text": "Onomatopoeic.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "tonk",
"name": "en-interj"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "intj",
"senses": [
{
"glosses": [
"representation of a sound produced by knocking on something hollow"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"rhymes": "-ɒŋk"
},
{
"audio": "En-au-tonk.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg/En-au-tonk.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "tonk"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English interjections",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms with audio links",
"English verbs",
"Rhymes:English/ɒŋk",
"Rhymes:English/ɒŋk/1 syllable"
],
"etymology_number": 4,
"etymology_text": "Onomatopoeic.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "tonks",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "tonk (plural tonks)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"glosses": [
"A sound produced by knocking on something hollow."
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English colloquialisms",
"en:Cricket"
],
"glosses": [
"A resounding strike of the ball; a powerful hit of the ball with the bat."
],
"links": [
[
"cricket",
"cricket"
],
[
"strike",
"strike"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(cricket, colloquial) A resounding strike of the ball; a powerful hit of the ball with the bat."
],
"tags": [
"colloquial"
],
"topics": [
"ball-games",
"cricket",
"games",
"hobbies",
"lifestyle",
"sports"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"rhymes": "-ɒŋk"
},
{
"audio": "En-au-tonk.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg/En-au-tonk.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "tonk"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English interjections",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms with audio links",
"English verbs",
"Rhymes:English/ɒŋk",
"Rhymes:English/ɒŋk/1 syllable"
],
"etymology_number": 4,
"etymology_text": "Onomatopoeic.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "tonks",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "tonking",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "tonked",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "tonked",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "tonk (third-person singular simple present tonks, present participle tonking, simple past and past participle tonked)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English colloquialisms",
"English terms with quotations",
"English transitive verbs",
"en:Cricket"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2012, Iain Macintosh, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Cricket But Were Too Afraid to Ask",
"text": "Then your dad would step up and spend 45 minutes repeatedly tonking the ball over the shower block […]",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2014, Makarand Waingankar, Guts & Glory",
"text": "Moments later, Sehwag tonked the ball and it travelled some distance.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To knock or strike (a ball) so that it flies through the air."
],
"links": [
[
"cricket",
"cricket"
],
[
"knock",
"knock"
],
[
"strike",
"strike"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(cricket, colloquial, transitive) To knock or strike (a ball) so that it flies through the air."
],
"tags": [
"colloquial",
"transitive"
],
"topics": [
"ball-games",
"cricket",
"games",
"hobbies",
"lifestyle",
"sports"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"rhymes": "-ɒŋk"
},
{
"audio": "En-au-tonk.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg/En-au-tonk.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "tonk"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms with audio links",
"Rhymes:English/ɒŋk",
"Rhymes:English/ɒŋk/1 syllable"
],
"etymology_number": 5,
"forms": [
{
"form": "tonks",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "tonk (plural tonks)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "honky-tonk"
},
{
"word": "tinkety-tonk"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English slang"
],
"glosses": [
"A tank."
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(slang) A tank."
],
"tags": [
"slang"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"rhymes": "-ɒŋk"
},
{
"audio": "En-au-tonk.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg/En-au-tonk.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-tonk.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "tonk"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-17 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-01 using wiktextract (0b52755 and 5cb0836). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.