ping

noun

\ ˈpiŋ

Definition of ping

(Entry 1 of 3)

1 : a sharp sound like that of a striking bullet

2 : knock sense 2b

3 : the pulse of sound waves reflected from or emitted by a submerged object in submarine signaling or detection and heard by special apparatus Baylor … trained his sound unit from one bearing to another, listening for submarines. It threw out a directional sound beam, a series of "pings." These pings, if they hit a solid object like a submarine, reflected back to the operator.— William J. Lederer

4 : a signal sent from one computer to another across a network for usually diagnostic purposes (as to determine network speed or the status of the target computer) With Napster, however, all you have to do is type in the name of the song or artist and up will pop 2,745 Phish songs sorted by the host computer's type of modem connection and ping rate.— Karl Taro Greenfeld

ping

verb

pinged; pinging; pings

Definition of ping (Entry 2 of 3)

intransitive verb

1 : to make a ping

2 : to ricochet with a ping gravel pinging off … the car— Margaret Atwood

transitive verb

1 : to cause to ping ping a bell

2 : to locate (something, such as a submerged object or submarine) by detecting the reflection of a pulse of sound waves : to send out a ping (see ping entry 1 sense 3) in order to locate (something) We will have to follow this big old boy on the surface and then try to ping him with the sonar when he dives.— Corwin Ericson

3a : to send a signal to (a computer) in order to determine its status or the status of the connecting network Without realizing what he was doing, he pinged every server in a .gov domain. Next day, his ISP canceled his account; the retribution was swift and uncompromising.— Bill Machrone

b : to send a signal to (a device, such as a cell phone) in order to determine its status or location Howell officers warned police agencies across the state. … Police pinged the man's phone to get its location.— Andrew Ford

c : to send a usually brief message (such as a text message) or notification to (a person, a person's phone, etc.) … provides an opportunity to check the time or see who pinged you while you were coming down the mountain … — Wired

Ping

geographical name

\ ˈpiŋ

Definition of Ping (Entry 3 of 3)

river 360 miles (579 kilometers) long in western Thailand flowing south-southeast to join the Nan River forming the Chao Phraya River

Examples of ping in a Sentence

Verb

Pebbles pinged off the car.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Julie Ertz and Abby Dahlkemper were pinging the ball around the field, allowing the U.S. to have a lot of the ball in the attacking half and creating chances — including Tobin Heath drawing a penalty kick pretty early on. — Jordan Angeli, The Denver Post, "USWNT survives tough match with Spain as pressure mounts in World Cup knockout rounds," 24 June 2019 Two crosses pinged across the box were bound to produce something. — Andrew Keh, New York Times, "U.S. Takes Apart Thailand and the Record Book at the Women’s World Cup," 11 June 2019 The second is periodicity — a repeating path like a ball pinging back and forth between two sides. — Quanta Magazine, "New Shapes Solve Infinite Pool-Table Problem," 8 Aug. 2017 The camera app, which notifies Wesley’s phone whenever someone enters the yard, quickly started pinging away. — nola.com, "If you’ve ever peed outside this New Orleans bar, you may have been caught on camera," 3 June 2019 As the particles move around, there is a chance of being pinged out of the trap by a collision. — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, "Technical tour-de-force traps positrons," 11 Dec. 2018 The swimsuit model went head-to-head with Giant's Super Bowl champion Jason Pierre-Paul, challenging him to a variety of games, from a runway showdown to ping-pong to throwing a football. — Joy Hernon, Marie Claire, "Shower Like A Supermodel: Kate Upton's Secret to Glowing Skin," 27 Apr. 2012 Vacations are some of the best times to catch up on all of those books sitting unread on our bookshelves—chalk it up to those eight-hour flights, long train rides, and that inbox not pinging constantly with work emails. — Condé Nast Traveler, "The Best Books We Traveled With This Year: Women Who Travel Podcast," 24 Dec. 2018 Ivan Perisic collected a loose ball off a cross in the Russian penalty area, took a touch to give himself a clean look on goal, and then pings it off the inside of the post! — Rory Smith, New York Times, "Russia Finally Falls, Leaving a Trail of Admirers and Doubters," 8 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ping.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.