Dictionary

Mack truck en · NOUN

Etymology

Named after the Mack brothers who founded the company in 1900.

Meanings

1. A motor vehicle produced by Mack Trucks, especially a semi-trailer.
   • their hearts were too small to pump blood to their huge bodies. It was like trying to run a Mack truck on a Volkswagen engine, and their hearts gave out. 2005, Temple Grandin, Catherine Johnson, Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, pages 71–72:
2. A semi-trailer of any brand.
   • Abuses committed by overly aggressive states have resulted in federal rules and paperwork motivated by the fear that without rules and record-keeping requirements, states would show up at the Treasury with a Mack truck to take away all the cash they could. 2005, Gary E. Macdougal, Make a Difference: A Spectacular Breakthrough in the Fight Against Poverty, Truman Tally Books, →ISBN, page 317:
3. (figuratively) Any unstoppable or enormous thing coming through.
   • “I used to be a once bitten, twice shy kind of guy. Now I get hit by a Mack truck of a girl and realize my life is flashing in front of my eyes. Everything's going too fast anyway, seems easier to go jump in and go with the flow.” 2018, Maggie Wells, A Ring for Rosie:
   • I sprung out of bed and was shoved back by a Mack truck of a headache. I powered through and felt my way to the door, focusing on a sliver of grayish light glowing through the curtains. 2011, Jess Lourey, October Fest, page 39:

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