banjax
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Unknown, perhaps originally Dublin slang.[1]
Pronunciation
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Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -æks
Verb
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- (British, originally Ireland, slang) To ruin or destroy.
- 1928, Eimar O'Duffy, The Spacious Adventures of the Man in the Street, Macmillan, page 370:
- Indeed, it seemed that the army was hopelessly banjaxed.
- 1970, Edna O'Brien, A Pagan Place, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, published 2001, page 91:
- Emma had suggested that you hide, said your presence might banjax her position.
- 2006, Craig Ferguson, Between the Bridge and the River, Chronicle Books, page 252:
- Fraser was looking at the flat, wet countryside and thinking about the French policeman who had banjaxed him with the truncheon.
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:banjax.
Translations
To ruin or destroy
Noun
banjax (plural banjaxes)
- (chiefly Ireland, informal) A mess or undesirable situation made as a result of incompetence.
- 1922, Seán O'Casey, Juno and the Paycock:
- I'm tellin' you the scholar, Bentham, made a banjax o' th' Will.
References
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 2013.