funk out

English

Verb

funk out (third-person singular simple present funks out, present participle funking out, simple past and past participle funked out)

(dated or dialectal) To back out in a cowardly way; to chicken out.
- 1848, James Russell Lowell, The Biglow Papers:
  to funk right out o' p'lit'cal strife
- 1887, Frederick Whsihaw (translator), Fyodor Dostoevsky (original), The Gambler:
  “What! why not? what's the meaning of this? are you funking out of it? You're all a set of cowards.”
To malfunction.
- 2012, W. G. Marshall, Enormity:
  “I don't know; we've lost line-of-sight, and I think my com is funking out, too. Maybe the static discharge shorted it out. We're gonna have to backtrack and find everybody.”
- 2013, Mark Shepherd, Kris Longknife: Defender:
  Jack did not like it when his technology funked out, but with forty-three Marines keeping careful watch, he could at least search with the Mark I eyeball.
To rock out to funk music.
- 2018, Eric Wendell, Experiencing Herbie Hancock: A Listener's Companion:
  Maupin shines, particularly at 4:48 where he funks out, completely eschewing the tempo and expanding the palette of the band.
- 2022, Kelly Siskind, The Beat Match:
  Dancing, energized, smiling at Wes, who was dressed to the nines with his cuffs rolled and slacks ironed, funking out to the tunes.

References

“funk”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.