Clobber

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /klÉ’b.É™(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -É’bÉ™(ɹ)

British slang from 1941; possibly onomatopoeic of the sound of detonated bombs in the distance.

Full definition of clobber

Verb

1. (transitive, slang) To hit or bash severely; to seriously harm or damage.
• 1954, Evan Hunter, The Blackboard Jungle, 1984, %22clobbers%22|%22clobbering%22|%22clobbered%22+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&dq=%22clobber%22|%22clobbers%22|%22clobbering%22|%22clobbered%22+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=bpQrT7LpA4PmmAWjr6nJDw&redir_esc=y page 201,So the temptation to clobber was always there, and it was sometimes more difficult not to strike than it would have been to strike, and the consequences be damned.
• 2000 November 30, Kenya National Assembly Official Record (Hansard), %22clobbers%22|%22clobbering%22|%22clobbered%22+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=b9wqT4fKIKqfmQW5zZHQDw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22clobber%22|%22clobbers%22|%22clobbering%22|%22clobbered%22%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 3034,Mr. Speaker, Sir, in the East African Standard newspaper we saw a picture of a man being carried away after being clobbered. We also saw women being clobbered by well-built policemen using big clubs. They were clobbering women who had already fallen on the ground.
• 2002, Donald K. Burleson, Oracle9i UNIX Administration Handbook, %22clobbers%22|%22clobbering%22|%22clobbered%22+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=e94qT4HXMu7LmAXNteAB&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22clobber%22|%22clobbers%22|%22clobbering%22|%22clobbered%22%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 395,Most of the job of the UNIX Oracle DBA is keeping the database running, and it does not come as a surprise when they see how easy it is to clobber a server.The following script cripples the UNIX server by an implosion of incoming jobs. This is known as a denial of service (DOS) attack....
2. (transitive, computing) To overwrite (data) or override (an assignment of a value), often unintentionally or unexpectedly.
• 1999, Michael J. Wooldridge, Anand Rao, Foundations of Rational Agency, %22clobbers%22|%22clobbering%22|%22clobbered%22+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=UI8rT9G-JeTImQX0t9jFDw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22clobber%22|%22clobbers%22|%22clobbering%22|%22clobbered%22%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 74,Inferences made in accordance with this reason are defeated by finding that the merged plan clobbers one of the causal-links in one of the constituent plans.
• 2004, John R. Levine, Margaret Levine Young, Unix for Dummies, %22clobbers%22|%22clobbering%22|%22clobbered%22+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=xTQrT8vXKPCcmQXYzNXMDw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22clobber%22|%22clobbers%22|%22clobbering%22|%22clobbered%22%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 314,The cp command does one thing as it clobbers a file;

• 2007, Billy Hoffman, Bryan Sullivan, Ajax Security, %22clobbers%22|%22clobbering%22|%22clobbered%22+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=e94qT4HXMu7LmAXNteAB&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22clobber%22|%22clobbers%22|%22clobbering%22|%22clobbered%22%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false unnumbered page,These functions collide, and we can see in Figure 7-1 that the debug() function for SexyWidgets clobbers the developer′s

British slang from 19th Century.

Noun

1. (UK, Australia, slang) Clothing.
• 1892, Rudyard Kipling, Loot, in Barrack-Room Ballads, Gutenberg eBook #2819,W′y, they call a man a robber if ′e stuffs ′is marchin′ clobber
  With the—
  (Chorus) Loo! loo! Lulu! lulu! Loo! loo! Loot! loot! loot!
• 1899, George Bernard Shaw, , Gutenberg eBook #3418,Now to get rid of this respectable clobber and feel like a man again.
• 1919, C. J. Dennis, Red Robin, in Jim of The Hills, Gutenberg Australia eBook #0500931,I was thinkin′ of the widow while I gets me clobber on -
  Like a feller will start thinkin′ of the times that′s past an′ gone.
2. (UK, slang) Equipment.

Anagrams

• cobbler