to whack up
- phrasal verb
- UK
:
romper
- They had to whack up the fallen branches after the storm.
Examples
-
The chef decided to whack up the vegetables into bite-sized portions for the salad.
-
Don't whack up the cake too much!
-
At the end of the night, we decided to whack up the bill evenly.
-
He suggested we whack up the profits among all team members.
-
He whacks up the fruit for smoothies.
-
After the storm, the workers had to whack up the fallen tree branches into smaller pieces for disposal.
-
Don't forget to whack up the leftover pizza so everyone can have a slice.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To change a large bill into smaller bills
∞
1.0
To pull something so it breaks into pieces
311
2.1
To break something into many pieces using great force
225
2.9
To badly damage or destroy something
72
2.8
To break suddenly into many small pieces, like glass
66
2.7
Separate something into smaller pieces
56
1.9
To cut something into smaller pieces by sharp blows again and again with a knife or axe
47
2.6
To divide something into smaller parts
39
2.7
To rip something into small pieces
39
3.7
To break into small pieces or make something break apart
34
5.8
To break something into pieces by hitting it hard
32
1.1
Make something into smaller pieces using scissors or a knife
26
3.0
To separate into pieces, for example a machine or a group
21
6.1
To badly cut, tear, or crush and cause a serious physical injury
21
3.9
To break into many small, sharp pieces like wood or glass
14
5.8
To divide something into parts to share between people
9
9.0
To divide something into parts, often breaking a company or country
9
3.5
To break a piece from something with a quick, sharp movement
8
2.8
To tear something into small pieces
8
7.6
Damage something badly, often by hitting or dropping it
8
5.4
Break something into many small parts or hurt someone very badly
5
4.7
To damage something very badly so it breaks into pieces
5
3.9
To damage something badly, often by biting or tearing
3
3.2
Break a small piece from something by hitting or pressing it
1
3.2
To break something into smaller parts
1
9.9
To cut or separate something into parts, often by breaking it
1
9.1
To break something into pieces
To tear something into separate parts, usually by force
To break something into many small pieces
Make something stop working by hitting or dropping it
Antonyms
How Damaged
Surface Forms
Morphology
whack + up
The sense is partially predictable: 'whack' (to hit/strike) plus the particle 'up' commonly conveys a sense of completion or breaking into pieces (cf. 'cut up', 'chop up'), so a learner could plausibly infer 'break into pieces' or 'cut into portions'. However, because 'whack' primarily denotes striking rather than cutting and the phrase is informal/colloquial with a range of related senses, the precise meaning is not fully derivable without prior exposure.
Etymology
Whack up comes from the strong image of whack, meaning to hit or cut, and up, meaning into pieces. So, whack up means 'to break or cut something into pieces' or 'to divide it into portions'.