Crossword clues for thunk
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
sound of impact, attested from 1952, echoic.
Wiktionary
Etymology 1 vb. (context humorous nonstandard English) (past participle of think English) Etymology 2
interj. (non-gloss definition: Representing the dull sound of the impact of a heavy object striking another and coming to an immediate standstill, with neither object being broken by the impact). vb. to strike against something, without breakage, making a "thunk" sound Etymology 3
n. 1 (context computing functional programming English) a delayed computation 2 (context computing English) In the Scheme programming language, a function or procedure taking no arguments. 3 (context computing English) a mapping of machine data from one system-specific form to another, usually for compatibility reasons, such as from 16-bit addresses to 32-bit to allow a 16-bit program to run on a 32-bit operating system.
WordNet
n. a dull hollow sound; "the basketball made a thunk as it hit the rim"
Wikipedia
In computer programming, a thunk is a subroutine that is created, often automatically, to assist a call to another subroutine. Thunks are primarily used to represent an additional calculation that a subroutine needs to execute, or to call a routine that does not support the usual calling mechanism. They have a variety of other applications to compiler code generation and in modular programming.
The term originated as a jocular derivative of "think".
Usage examples of "thunk".
Harry was pleased to hear the dull thunk that meant the Bludger had found its mark.
A sudden whick of something slicing fast through the air was followed by the thunk of something else smashing solidly into bone.
The stool scraped over to the palliasse and he thunked the bucket up on it.
The bulbous magnetic head of the Maghook thunked into the underside of the retractable steel bridge and stuck there.
Arrows thunked into it or whistled eerily through the shutterless window, hitting the far wall.
Besides, this idea had thunked home in her brainpan with the solid feel of truth.
Elsewhere, throughout the ship, he heard dull metallic thunks as more hatches shut.
They remained lying on the floor, grasping the nonslip grate, until the lift thunked into place.
Other than the clatter of the cleated seaboots and the screaming of a flock of gulls, the only sound was the clean thunking of steel blades biting into the quivering flesh of the harpooned whale.
The spear whizzed past the bystanders and landed with a solid thunk, its point nearly buried in the ground and the shaft vibrating from the impact.
More arrows whistled down and thunked, quivering, in the grass beside them.
The knight swung again, and Chris ducked, stumbled backward, and got hastily to his feet again as the ax thunked into the grass.
He could hear bullets thunking into the upper walls and beams, like the patter of rain but more irregular.
He sank to his knees, and then Roy was kicking him, with his steel-toed boots, his arms up in the air, his foot swinging, thunking into Bader, sinking into his side, his stomach, his back, and Bader, curled up on himself, dissolved and disappeared.
But he likes the typewriters as objects even more: the enameled keys with their silver rings, the gold engraving on the black casing, the satisfying thunk of the carriage return.