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PlainSpell

conk

/kɑŋk/noun, verb

conk is spelled C-O-N-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 107,757th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, conk means “The shelf- or bracket-shaped fruiting body of a bracket fungus (also called a shelf fungus), i.e. a mushroom growing off a tree trunk” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of conk is conks.

How many letters and syllables are in conk?

Letters4: C-O-N-K
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 13 million words; the 107,757th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is conk?

Conk appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 107,757th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce conk?

  • UK /kɒŋk/
  • US /kɑŋk/

Conk has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-conk.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with conk?

8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as conk from its last stressed vowel (/ɑŋk/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: nock.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of conk

  • conks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • konk
  • conking participle, present
  • conked participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does conk mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The shelf- or bracket-shaped fruiting body of a bracket fungus (also called a shelf fungus), i.e. a mushroom growing off a tree trunk.

  2. 2

    slangA nose, especially a large one.

  3. 3

    Alternative spelling of conch.

  4. 4

    USdatedA hairstyle involving the chemical straightening and styling of kinky hair.

verb

  1. 1

    slangTo hit, especially on the head.

  2. 2

    colloquialTo fail or show signs of failing, cease operating, break down.

  3. 3

    colloquialTo become unconscious.

  4. 4

    USdatedTo chemically straighten tightly curled hair.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Conk in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchlangue (in mycology: the shelf- or bracket-shaped…), cogner (slang: to hit), lâcher, péter (to cease operating, break down)
GermanPorling (in mycology: the shelf- or bracket-shaped…), schlagen, treffen (slang: to hit)
Portuguesedar cascudo (slang: to hit)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does conk come from?

Variant or figurative use of conch. Attested since the nineteenth century.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after conk