To whack, to bump off, to waste (someone); to crash/kill (a process/program), to slam/drop (an object), to blow/spend (money). Derived from the onomatopoeic noun грохот (a loud crash, roar, or rumble). It is an incredibly popular, high-energy perfective verb with several distinct slang applications: first, in criminal and street slang, it means to murder, assassinate, or eliminate someone (его грохнули в подъезде — “he was bumped off in the building entrance”); second, in IT and tech jargon, it means to terminate a process, delete a file, or crash a system (я случайно грохнул базу данных — “I accidentally killed the database”); third, to drop or throw something with a loud, heavy crash; fourth, to waste or spend a massive amount of money on something (грохнул всю зарплату на шмотки — “he blew his entire salary on clothes”).
Дедушка должен был председателя горкома грохнуть. Но тут кто-то донёс. В самый последний момент…
Grandpa was supposed to kill the mayor. But somebody ratted on him. At the last moment…
(Александр Бондарь, Альфонс, 2003)
