# wank
## English
### Etymology

Origin unknown. First known use as a verb is 1905, as a noun 1948. Perhaps compare regional slang term wang, whang (“to whack or beat”). Compare Dutch wanken (“to move back and forth; move with the hands”).

### Pronunciation

* (UK, US) IPA: /wæŋk/
* Audio (UK):(file)
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
* Rhymes: -æŋk

### Verb

wank (third-person singular simple present wanks, present participle wanking, simple past and past participle wanked) (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth)
* (intransitive, slang, ambitransitive) To masturbate.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:masturbate
    I was so embarrassed when my mother caught me wanking.
    She wanked me in the morning.
* (intransitive, vulgar, chiefly fandom slang and Internet slang) To argue in an inappropriate manner or about pretentious or insubstantial matters; to engage in wank.

#### Related terms

* wanker
* wankery
* wankfest (noun)
* wanky
* wank off

#### Translations
### Noun

wank (countable and uncountable, plural wanks) (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth)
* (countable, slang, vulgar) An act of masturbation.
    Synonyms: jerk off, toss, tug, fingering; see also Thesaurus:masturbation
    He’s having a wank!
* (countable, slang, vulgar, derogatory) An undesirable person.
    You utter wank! How could you behave like that?
* (uncountable, slang, vulgar) Nonsense, rubbish.
    This opera is wank.
    Did you see that thing on Channel 4? Yeah, it was wank.
** 2000, Dylan Moran, “Cooking the Books”, in Black Books, season 1, episode 1 (television production), spoken by Fran (Tamsin Greig):I do sell a lot of wank, don't I?
* (uncountable, chiefly vulgar, fandom slang and Internet slang) Ridiculous, circular or inappropriately elaborate argument about something, especially if obnoxious, pretentious or unsubstantial.
    Synonym: wankery
* (countable, uncountable, fandom slang) Drama, turmoil, or disagreement within a fannish space.
** 2010, Karen Hellekson, “History, the Trace, and Fandom Wank”, in Heather Urbanski, editor, Writing and the Digital Generation: Essays on New Media Rhetoric‎, page 64:Sometimes those involved in the wank will attempt to steer discussion by disguising themselves with a different user name and posting their own support.
** 2011, Katherine Larsen, Lynn Zubernis, Fandom at the Crossroads: Celebration, Shame and Fan/producer Relationships‎, page 156:As we've seen, the wank that broke out at the very first Supernatural fan convention (Asylum) in Coventry, UK in 2007 was partly inspired by Jensen Ackles' joke about Wincest.
** 2013, "AngstGoddess", quoted in Anne Jamison, Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World, unknown page:
    The general mission of Twankhard was to highlight various wanks in the fandom and cultivate anon-based discussion of them.
** For more quotations using this term, see Citations:wank.

#### Derived terms

* danger wank
* fanwank
* posh wank
* tit wank
* wank bank
* wank sock
* wankstain

#### Translations
### References

* 1 2 Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “wank”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
* 1 2 “wank, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2019.

### Anagrams

* knaw, kawn, Kwan, kwan

## German
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -aŋk

### Verb

wank
* singular imperative of wanken
* (colloquial) first-person singular present of wanken