Clobber

/ˈklɒb.ə(ɹ)/ · verb

Meaning

(transitive, slang) To hit or bash severely; to seriously harm or damage..

Definitions by Sense

1. (transitive, slang) To hit or bash severely; to seriously harm or damage.
2. (transitive, computing, slang) To overwrite (data) or override (an assignment of a value), often unintentionally or unexpectedly.
3. (slang) A beating.
4. A bash on say the head, typically with a tool or object rather than with fists.
5. (Australia, British, slang) Clothing; clothes.
6. (British, slang) Equipment.
7. A paste used by shoemakers to hide the cracks in leather.

Example Sentences

2000 November 30, Kenya National Assembly Official Record (Hansard), 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.

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.

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[…].

It is therefore clear that the system itself must be truly "clobber proof"; that is, no user may be capable of changing anyone else's program or tying up the system in any way that would disrupt normal service to other users.

In the slang of computer programmers, the second re-entry address is likely to "clobber" the machine's memory of the original re-entry address.

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.

The cp command does one thing as it clobbers a file; mv and ln do another.

These functions collide, and we can see in Figure 7-1 that the debug() function for SexyWidgets clobbers the developer′s debug() function. The last function declared with the same name in the same scope will silently clobber the earlier function definition.

Synonyms for clobber

Antonyms for clobber

Related Words

Word Forms

• clobbers
• clobbering
• clobbered

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

Practice and Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions