bork
To defeat a person's appointment or election, judicial nomination, etc., through a…To defeat a person's appointment or election, judicial nomination, etc., through a concerted attack on the person's character, background, and philosophy.
» The senators are trying to bork the nominee.
Meaning
6 senses(US, ambitransitive, derogatory, often)To defeat a person's appointment or election, judicial nomination, etc., through a concerted attack on the person's character, background, and philosophy.
(slang, transitive)To misconfigure, break, or damage, especially a computer or other complex device.
(intransitive, slang)To become broken or damaged, especially of a computer or other complex device.
(Internet, humorous)Of a dog, to bark.
(slang, vulgar)To boink; to have sex with.
(slang)To retch or vomit.
Examples
3 sentencesThe senators are trying to bork the nominee.
My computer is borked.
The nominee was borked.
Origin
A reference to the unsuccessful 1987 United States Supreme Court nomination of Robert BorkA reference to the unsuccessful 1987 United States Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork (1927–2012); first appeared in print that same year.
Possibly derived from borken, a deliberate misspelling of the word broken used in ironic or humorous contexts; or from the usage described under “Etymology 1” above.
Mutation of bark.
Perhaps from a blend of boink + pork.
Onomatopoeic, representing the sound of vomiting. Possibly related to boak.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
borks, borking, borked, borkedWord family
4 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle