impact

Noun

impact (countable and uncountable, plural impacts)

1. The striking of one body against another; collision.
2. The force or energy of a collision of two objects.
   • The hatchet cut the wood on impact.
3. A forced impinging.
   • His spine had an impingement; L4 and L5 made impact, which caused numbness in his leg.
4. (figuratively, proscribed) A significant or strong influence or effect.
   • His friend's opinion had an impact on his decision.
   • Our choice of concrete will have a tremendous impact on the building's mechanical performance.

Verb

IPA/ɪmˈpækt/

impact (third-person singular simple present impacts, present participle impacting, simple past and past participle impacted)

1. (transitive) To collide or strike, the act of impinging.
   • When the hammer impacts the nail, it bends.
   • As a microbullet impacts the graphene, the diameter of the cone it creates – determined by later examination of the petals – provides a way to measure how much energy the graphene absorbs before breaking.2014 December 1, Mike Williams, “Microbullet hits confirm graphene’s strength”, in Rice University
2. (transitive) To compress; to compact; to press into something or pack together.
   • The footprints of birds do not impact the soil in the way those of dinosaurs do.
3. (figuratively, proscribed, transitive) To significantly or strongly influence or affect; to have an impact on.
   • I can make the changes, but it will impact the schedule.
4. (rare, transitive) To stamp or impress onto something.
   • Ideas impacted on the mind.