ping

noun

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\ 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 Picks 1-4 are awarded by a drawing of ping pong balls, and the remaining 10 lottery teams are sorted by record to fill out picks 5-14. — Roy Parry, orlandosentinel.com, 8 May 2021 Hail the size of ping pong balls or larger fell in an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. — Matthew Cappucci, Anchorage Daily News, 29 Apr. 2021 AirTagged objects will ping nearby devices via Bluetooth, and the exchange of information will allow accurate location information. — Chris Smith, BGR, 20 Apr. 2021 Even things like fewer whimsical diversions in the (smaller) offices (ping pong but not Foosball?) can make people feel undervalued. — Aliza Knox, Forbes, 1 June 2021 High above Music City, this casual rooftop lounge is outfitted with a 1956 Scenicruiser tour bus, private cabanas, and games like ping pong and shuffleboard. — Patricia Doherty, Travel + Leisure, 26 May 2021 The first of the Duke and Duchess's three engagements was at the Way Wolverhampton Youth Zone, which works to give children and teens a place to find mentors and participate in activities, like gardening, art, and, yes, ping pong and archery. — Annie Goldsmith, Town & Country, 13 May 2021 Discord is a perfect vehicle for these pumps, as a semi-public forum that allows users to advertise servers broadly, ping users about coordinated buy-ins, and discuss strategy. — Cecilia D'anastasio, Wired, 13 May 2021 Apple further leveraged this massive iPhone network to launch the AirTag tracker that can ping any nearby iPhone to send out location information about a lost object. — Chris Smith, BGR, 29 Apr. 2021

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.