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19 dictionary results for: bang

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

bang1

[bang] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	a loud, sudden, explosive noise, as the discharge of a gun.

2.	a resounding stroke or blow: a nasty bang on the head.

3.	Informal. a sudden movement or show of energy: He started with a bang.

4.	energy; vitality; spirit: The bang has gone out of my work.

5.	Informal. sudden or intense pleasure; thrill; excitement: a big bang out of seeing movies.

6.	Slang: Vulgar. sexual intercourse.

7.	Printing and Computer Slang. an exclamation point.

–verb (used with object)

8.	to strike or beat resoundingly; pound: to bang a door.

9.	to hit or bump painfully: to bang one's ankle on a chair leg.

10.	to throw or set down roughly; slam: He banged the plates on the table.

11.	Slang: Vulgar. to have sexual intercourse with.

–verb (used without object)

12.	to strike violently or noisily: to bang on the door.

13.	to make a loud, sudden, explosive noise like that of a violent blow: The guns banged all night.

14.	Slang: Vulgar. to have sexual intercourse.

–adverb

15.	suddenly and loudly; abruptly or violently: She fell bang against the wall.

16.	directly; precisely; right: He stood bang in the middle of the flower bed.

—Verb phrases

17.	bang into, to collide with; bump into: The truck skidded on the ice and banged into a parked car.

18.	bang up, to damage: A passing car banged up our fender.

—Idioms

19.	bang off, Chiefly British Slang. immediately; right away.

20.	bang on, Chiefly British Slang. terrific; marvelous; just right: That hat is absolutely bang on.

[Origin: 1540–50; 1930–35 for def. 5; cf. ON banga to beat, hammer, LG bangen to strike, beat, G dial. banken; perh. orig. imit.

]

—Synonyms 2. smack, clout, box, wallop, sock, bash, cuff.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

bang2

[bang] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	Often, bangs. a fringe of hair combed or brushed forward over the forehead.

–verb (used with object)

2.	to cut (the hair) so as to form a fringe over the forehead.

3.	to dock (the tail of a horse or dog).

[Origin: 1860–65, Americanism; short for bangtail

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

bang3

[bang] Pronunciation Key

–noun

bhang.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

bang¹ (bāng) Pronunciation Key
n.

A sudden loud noise, as of an explosion.
A sudden loud blow or bump.
Informal A sudden burst of action: The campaign started off with a bang.
Slang A sense of excitement; a thrill: We got a bang out of watching the old movies.

v. banged, bang·ing, bangs

v. tr.

To strike heavily and often repeatedly; bump.
To close suddenly and loudly; slam.
To handle noisily or violently: banged the pots in the kitchen.
Vulgar Slang To have sexual intercourse with.

v. intr.

To make a sudden loud, explosive noise.
To crash noisily against or into something: My elbow banged against the door.

adv.

Exactly; precisely: The arrow hit bang on the target.
Suddenly; abruptly: cut the conversation bang off.
To speak or ask questions in a rapid, aggressive manner: reporters banging away at the official during the press conference.
To work diligently and often at length: banged away at the project until it was finished.

Phrasal Verb(s):
bang away

To speak or ask questions in a rapid, aggressive manner: reporters banging away at the official during the press conference.
To work diligently and often at length: banged away at the project until it was finished.

bang up
To damage extensively: banged up the car.

Idiom(s):
bang for the/one's buck
Value returned for investment or effort.

[Probably from Old Norse bang, a hammering.]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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bang²   (bāng) Pronunciation Key
n.   A fringe of hair cut short and straight across the forehead. Often used in the plural.

tr.v.   banged, bang·ing, bangs
To cut (hair) in bangs.

[From bang¹.]

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

bang³ (bāng) Pronunciation Key
n. Variant of bhang.

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bhang also bang (bāng, bäng) Pronunciation Key
n. A preparation from the leaves and seed capsules of the cannabis plant, smoked, chewed, eaten, or infused and drunk to obtain mild euphoria.

[Ultimately from Sanskrit bhaṅgā.]

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
bang

c.1550, "to strike hard with a loud blow," from O.N. banga "to pound, hammer" of echoic origin. Slang meaning "have sexual intercourse with" first recorded 1937. Bangs of hair first recorded 1878, Amer.Eng., though 1870 of horses (bang-tail), perhaps from notion of abruptness (cf. bang off "immediately, without delay, 1886; bang-up "excellent, first-rate," 1820, probably shortened from phrase bang up to the mark). Big bang in astrophysics first recorded 1950. Banger British slang for "a sausage" is first recorded 1919, perhaps from sense of "a bludgeon," though this is only recorded in U.S.

"This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper"
[T.S. Eliot, "Hollow Men," 1925]

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

bang
adverb
1.	directly; "he ran bang into the pole"; "ran slap into her"
noun
1.	a vigorous blow; "the sudden knock floored him"; "he took a bash right in his face"; "he got a bang on the head" [syn: knock]
2.	a sudden very loud noise
3.	a border of hair that is cut short and hangs across the forehead
4.	the swift release of a store of affective force; "they got a great bang out of it"; "what a boot!"; "he got a quick rush from injecting heroin"; "he does it for kicks"
5.	a conspicuous success; "that song was his first hit and marked the beginning of his career"; "that new Broadway show is a real smasher"; "the party went with a bang" [syn: hit]
verb
1.	strike violently; "slam the ball" [syn: slam]
2.	to produce a sharp often metallic explosive or percussive sound; "One of them banged the sash of the window nearest my bed"
3.	close violently; "He slammed the door shut" [syn: slam]
4.	move noisily; "The window banged shut"; "The old man banged around the house"
5.	have sexual intercourse with; "This student sleeps with everyone in her dorm"; "Adam knew Eve"; "Were you ever intimate with this man?" [syn: sleep together]
6.	leap, jerk, bang; "Bullets spanged into the trees" [syn: spang]

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American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

bang

In addition to the idioms beginning with bang, also see beat (bang) one's head against the wall; get a bang out of; go over big (with a bang); more bang for the buck.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

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American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bang (bāng, bäng), Bernhard Lauritz Frederik. 1848-1932.

Danish veterinarian who discovered Brucella abortus, the agent of brucellosis in cattle and of undulant fever in humans.

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Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

bang
1. A common spoken name for "!" (ASCII 33), especially when used in pronouncing a bang path in spoken hackish. In elder days this was considered a CMUish usage, with MIT and Stanford hackers preferring excl or shriek; but the spread of Unix has carried "bang" with it (especially via the term bang path) and it is now certainly the most common spoken name for "!". Note that it is used exclusively for non-emphatic written "!"; one would not say "Congratulations bang" (except possibly for humorous purposes), but if one wanted to specify the exact characters "foo!" one would speak "Eff oh oh bang".
See pling, shriek, ASCII.
2. An exclamation signifying roughly "I have achieved enlightenment!", or "The dynamite has cleared out my brain!" Often used to acknowledge that one has perpetrated a thinko immediately after one has been called on it.
[The Jargon File]
(1995-01-31)

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Jargon File - Cite This Source - Share This

bang

1. n. Common spoken name for `!' (ASCII 0100001), especially when used in pronouncing a bang path in spoken hackish. In elder days this was considered a CMUish usage, with MIT and Stanford hackers preferring excl or shriek; but the spread of Unix has carried `bang' with it (esp. via the term bang path) and it is now certainly the most common spoken name for `!'. Note that it is used exclusively for non-emphatic written `!'; one would not say "Congratulations bang" (except possibly for humorous purposes), but if one wanted to specify the exact characters `foo!' one would speak "Eff oh oh bang". See shriek, ASCII.
2. interj. An exclamation signifying roughly "I have achieved enlightenment!", or "The dynamite has cleared out my brain!" Often used to acknowledge that one has perpetrated a thinko immediately after one has been called on it.

Jargon File 4.2.0

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bang

Bang\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Banged; p. pr. & vb. n. Banging.] [Icel. banga to hammer; akin to Dan. banke to beat, Sw. b[*a]ngas to be impetuous, G. bengel club, clapper of a bell.]

1. To beat, as with a club or cudgel; to treat with violence; to handle roughly.

The desperate tempest hath so banged the Turks. --Shak.

2. To beat or thump, or to cause ( something) to hit or strike against another object, in such a way as to make a loud noise; as, to bang a drum or a piano; to bang a door (against the doorpost or casing) in shutting it.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bang

Bang\, v. i. To make a loud noise, as if with a blow or succession of blows; as, the window blind banged and waked me; he was banging on the piano.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bang

Bang\, n. 1. A blow as with a club; a heavy blow.

Many a stiff thwack, many a bang. --Hudibras.

2. The sound produced by a sudden concussion.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This