different between swack vs spack

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /swæk/

Etymology 1

From Scots swack, from Middle English swac (“weak”), from Old English *swæc (found in derivative swæceh?ow (“weakmindedness, nonsense”)), from Proto-West Germanic *swak (“weak”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian swäk, West Frisian swak, Dutch zwak, German Low German swack, German schwach.

Adjective

swack (comparative swacker, superlative swackest)

1. (Scotland) Lithe; nimble.
   • 1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song, Polygon 2006 (A Scots Quair), p. 37:

     it came the turn of a brave young childe with a red head and the swackest legs you ever saw, […] and as soon as he began the drill you saw he'd carry off the prize.

Synonyms

• gracile, svelte, willowy; see also Thesaurus:slender and Thesaurus:flexible

Etymology 2

Unknown.

Noun

swack (plural swacks)

1. (slang) A large number or amount of something.

   She gave me a swack of books.

Etymology 3

Considered dialect by Wright, but now widespread. Scottish National Dictionary proposes an origin in Old Scots (Middle English) swak ("to throw violently"). Compare Scots swak, swack (“to throw with violent force, dash", also "a hard blow or whack”). Compare also Middle Dutch swacken (“to shake, wave”).

Noun

swack (plural swacks)

1. Synonym of smack
   1. A sharp blow.
   2. The sound of a sharp blow.
   3. A wet sound such as a loud kiss.
   4. A striking stimulus.
2. An attack, a swipe.
3. A single attempt or instance of taking action; a crack; a go.
4. clout; influence.
5. A gulp or hearty swallow.

Verb

swack (third-person singular simple present swacks, present participle swacking, simple past and past participle swacked)

1. To smack.
   1. To slap or hit.
   2. To make a swack (sound).
2. To consume with hearty enjoyment.
3. To labour; to exert an effort.

Adverb

swack (comparative more swack, superlative most swack)

1. With a swack, to the point of touching.

Etymology 4

Noun

swack (plural swacks)

1. A bum or petty thief.

References

• “swack” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.
• Wright, Joseph (1904) The English Dialect Dictionary?^[1], volume 5, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 859

Anagrams

• Wacks, cawks, wacks

Lower Sorbian

Etymology

swak +? -k

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /swat?sk/

Noun

swack m

1. Diminutive of swak (brother-in-law)

Declension

English

Etymology

Possibly a contraction of spastic (as a term of abuse).

Pronunciation

Noun

spack (plural spacks)

1. (Britain slang, derogatory) A clumsy, foolish, or mentally deficient person.

   Synonyms: spacko, spaz

   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:spack.

Derived terms

• spack attack

Related terms

• spacko
• spacka
• spacker
• spaz
• spastic

Anagrams

• packs

German

Etymology

From Middle Low German spak (“thin, dry, brittle”) from spake (“brushwood”). Or from rare Middle Low German spak (“tame, calm”) from an unknown source.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?pak/, [?pak?]
• Rhymes: -ak

Adjective

spack (comparative spacker, superlative am spacksten)

1. (regional, Northern Germany, usually of people) thin, scrawny (having an unusually low amount of both muscle and fat)
2. (regional, Northern Germany, of wood) dry, brittle

Declension

Related terms

• Spacken

Further reading

• “spack” in Duden online