plotz

verb

ˈpläts

plotzed; plotzing

intransitive informal : to burst with or be overcome by strong emotion

He had long, curly hair and dangling earrings … . I knew my friends would plotz if they saw him.—

Marjorie Ingall

We … plotzed with pleasure over our makeshift breakfast.—

Jane and Michael Stern

… some old-line patrons of The Cloister plotzed at the idea of change, and indeed have never returned to the resort.—

Lorraine Cademartori

transitive + intransitive informal : to drop down or allow (oneself) to drop down heavily (as from exhaustion) : plop

She plotzed herself in the carriage and took out her gin bottle and took a long swig.—

Harpo Marx

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Yiddish platsn "to crack, split, burst, fizzle out (of a plan)," going back to Middle High German blatzen, platzen "to strike loudly," probably going back to a West Germanic verbal base *platt- (whence also Old English plættan "to strike, slap," ēarplættan "to box the ears," Middle Dutch platten "to strike"), of onomatopoeic origin

Note: The second sense is perhaps through association with Yiddish plats "place."

First Known Use

circa 1920, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of plotz was circa 1920

See more words from the same year