Definition of Out of whack

1. Adjective. Out of balance or out of adjustment. "The front wheel of my bicycle is out of whack"


Definition of Out of whack

1. Adjective. (idiomatic) Wrong, broken; specifically: ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Out Of Whack

out of the picture
out of the question
out of the running
out of the way
out of the woods
out of thin air
out of this world
out of touch
out of town
out of towners
out of true
out of tune
out of use(p)
out of view
out of wedlock
out of whack
out of work
out on one's ear
out on the tiles
out or keeping(p)
out the wazoo
out the window
out the ying yang
out there
out to
out to(p)
out to get someone
out to lunch
out with it
outa

Literary usage of Out of whack

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Dialect Notes by American Dialect Society (1896)
"out of whack = out of gear, out of order. Common. whack up, r. : share. wheelbarrow. A "Dutch wheelbarrow" is made by taking a boy by the ankles and holding ..."

2. Dictionary of Americanisms. by John Russell Bartlett (1877)
"... for it didn't seem to turn round half so fast as it used to do. — Major Jones's Courtship, p. 80. Out of Whack. ..."

3. Bulletin of Pharmacy (1916)
"Before I bought a car I had it in my head that I would like to tinker it up, if anything got a little out of whack. I liked to read the Scientific American, ..."

4. Pragmatism, a New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking: Popular Lectures on by William James (1921)
"At any rate he and we know off-hand that such philosophies are out of plumb and out of key and out of 'whack,' and have no business to speak up in the ..."

5. Hearings Before the Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives by United States Congress. House. Committee on Agriculture (1922)
"I could not give it, because I am not an expert, but we have an expert here who can tell you that every scale was out of whack. The CHAIRMAN. ..."

6. Writing Through the Tween Years: Supporting Writers, Grades 3-6 by Bruce Morgan, Deb Odom (2005)
"Things had been running smoothly, then suddenly everything was out of whack. It's easy to dupe yourself into believing that once the classroom is running ..."

7. Camera (1907)
"... I know that either he is dreaming, or his camera is all out of whack, or else his development is off—and I have usually found that the result of the ..."

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