Dictionary

kerplunk en · INTJ

Pronunciation

• /kə(ɹ)ˈplʌŋk/ (General-American)
• kə-plŭngkʹ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /kəˈplʌŋk/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• kər-plŭngkʹ (General-American)

Etymology

From ker- (prefix forming onomatopoeias imitating the effect or sound of a heavy object falling) + plunk (“dull thud of something landing on a surface”).

Meanings

1. Used to indicate a thudding sound.
   • We flipped to see who'd go first and I won, which meant Claudia had to dial. I called the number out loud for her, and inside me my heart was suddenly going "kerplunk, kerplunk, kerplunk," heavy as an elephant's feet. 1986 November, Eve Bunting, chapter 7, in Sixth-grade Sleepover (An Apple Paperback), New York, N.Y.: Scholastic, →ISBN, page 41:

Coordinates

kersplosh

Translations (6)

de bum (used to indicate a thudding sound) · fr patatras (used to indicate a thudding sound) · fi tumps (used to indicate a thudding sound) · de krach (used to indicate a thudding sound) · fi tumpsis (used to indicate a thudding sound) · wa bardaf (used to indicate a thudding sound)

kerplunk en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /kə(ɹ)ˈplʌŋk/ (General-American)
• kə-plŭngkʹ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /kəˈplʌŋk/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• kər-plŭngkʹ (General-American)

Etymology

From ker- (prefix forming onomatopoeias imitating the effect or sound of a heavy object falling) + plunk (“dull thud of something landing on a surface”).

Meanings

1. (informal) A sound of someone or something falling and landing heavily.
   • If my life were a Saturday-morning cartoon, you would have heard a loud kerplunk as my stomach dropped. My poor starving stomach. It was under such stress already, and now this. 2005, Michelle Tea, chapter 15, in Rose of No Man’s Land […], 1st Harvest edition, Orlando, Fla.; Austin, Tex.: Harcourt, published 2007, →ISBN, page 125:
2. (US, dated, figuratively, slang) A disappointment which comes as a surprise.

Forms

Coordinates

splosh

Synonyms

kerchunk · thud · plunk

Translations (2)

fi shokkipettymys ((slang) disappointment which comes as a surprise) · mk разочару́вање ((slang) disappointment which comes as a surprise)

kerplunk en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /kə(ɹ)ˈplʌŋk/ (General-American)
• kə-plŭngkʹ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /kəˈplʌŋk/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• kər-plŭngkʹ (General-American)

Etymology

From ker- (prefix forming onomatopoeias imitating the effect or sound of a heavy object falling) + plunk (“dull thud of something landing on a surface”).

Meanings

1. (informal, intransitive) To make the sound of falling and landing heavily; to thud.

Forms